The Affair
by RhysMerilot
Summary: After having an affair for eleven years, their whole relationship begins to shift as Emma's wedding (and Regina's divorce) approaches far too quickly. Can they continue on with what they have, put an end to things, or will they figure out before it is too late that they were meant to be together?
1. Part I

**Author's Notes: Just to be clear, I do not condone cheating in any way or form. This fic was born after a week of zero inspiration to write and I'm pretty certain there will be four parts to this one...**

* * *

The moments that were spent together was always quick, always rushed, always a stolen second or two where they devoured one another. Hearts racing wildly as the minutes ticked on by, fingers slicking over molten heat, lips and tongues clashed together in a frenzy of kisses that never seemed to last long enough.

"Regina," Emma panted as her back slammed up against the small stall in the public bathroom of the bar. "God, Regina, don't stop."

Emma's head thumped up against the stall wall loudly as Regina plunged two fingers deep inside of her, her thrusts jerky and restrained in the tight confines of her black skinny jeans. Regina's lips were trailing over her neck, the dark red lipstick she'd been wearing long since worn off during the frantic kissing that had started the moment they entered the bathroom together a handful of minutes before.

Emma grasped at Regina's shoulders tightly before threading her fingers through her hair and pulling her away from her neck and back to her lips. Regina moaned low in her throat as she sank her fingers deeply inside of Emma, drawing out a quick orgasm that Emma had been craving all day.

Regina Mills was like a drug to her, never able to get enough even when they were pressed for time. Like most of their encounters, when she tried to return the favour, Regina swatted her hands away from the hem of her skirt and shook her head no.

"We've already been in here for nearly ten minutes," Regina said, exiting the stall as Emma buttoned up her jeans. She picked up her purse where she'd left it on the sink while Emma unlocked the bathroom door. "Run along, dear. I'll be out in a minute."

"Can't I get one more kiss?" Emma asked quietly and Regina shook her head no as she pulled out a tube of lipstick from her purse. "Fine."

Emma turned on the tap in the sink and washed her hands quickly before carefully using her wet fingers to not only remove some of Regina's lipstick from her lips and her neck, but also to tame her wild hair as to not make the other suspicious of what had just transpired between the two of them in the bathroom stall.

Emma walked out of the bathroom, leaving Regina to fix her makeup and hair alone. She walked down the hallway and out into the diner, her usual swagger in every step she took, but not overly obvious as she was careful to keep her and Regina's affair a secret.

It had been going on for years, their affair, even since before Regina had gotten married. They always tried to put an end to things, but one or the other would always come running back, wanting and needing more. The guilt was there, of course for both of them, because Regina was cheating on her loving, doting husband and Emma was doing the same to her fiancé Neal as well.

It wasn't her fault that she _craved_ the passion she only ever had with Regina. It wasn't her fault or even Regina's that a relationship between them had never worked out, but the sex had always been beyond phenomenal. They worked better as friends, and lovers, but beyond that, it never could work out. Emma had fallen in love with Regina years ago, but Regina never reciprocated those feelings.

 _"_ _I love you, Emma, but I'm not_ in _love with you."_

Those words had hurt, but Emma knew then that she should've known to expect that from Regina Mills. She was engaged to be married to her high school sweetheart at the time and that had hurt Emma too when Regina told her that Daniel had proposed to her on their ninth anniversary. But the day after the engagement, Regina had come to her and confessed that while she wasn't in love with her, she didn't want to lose what they had together even if it was wrong on every level.

Why did something so wrong have to feel so right? After every encounter they had, Emma always felt so conflicted and guilty, and she was unsure if Regina ever felt the same because their affair was never spoken about, as their stolen moments together were never wasted on such trivial things such as talking. It hadn't been just a short while the affair had been happening, it had been ongoing since their senior year in high school and they had only gone no less than a week without finding a moment or two to be together.

Closets, bathrooms—public and otherwise—the backseat of both of their cars, and more recently the dressing room when Regina had went with Emma and her mother to her final dress fitting the day before. Any place they could hide behind for up to ten minutes at a time, they found their way there one way or another. They had only ever had an entire weekend to themselves and that had been shortly after Regina and Daniel had gotten married and Daniel had gone to New York City to finalize some legal work on his recently deceased parents' estate.

It was the only time they'd ever been together in bed and they never left Regina's bed unless they absolutely had to. It had been an amazing weekend and they'd nearly been caught when Daniel had come home a whole six hours earlier than Regina had expected. It was after that close call that they had tried to tone their affair down, but less than a week later, Regina was dragging her into the bathroom at the Rabbit Hole and fucked her hard and fast in the stall before she had pushed Emma down to her knees, hiked up her skirt, and Emma had licked her into oblivion until two very inebriated women came into the bathroom and nearly caught them.

"Regina still in there?" Daniel asked as soon as Emma sat back down at the table next to Neal. Upon Emma's curt nod, Daniel laughed. "Women and their makeup, am I right?"

"I wouldn't know. Em rocks the natural look," Neal chuckled and he raised his bottle of beer to Daniel's in a toast. "Are you all right, babe?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Emma said quickly. "It's a bit warm in here, isn't it?" She asked as she fanned herself, knowing she was still sporting the blush in her cheeks after her quick orgasm mere minutes before. "Or is it just me?"

"Do you want to go outside and get some air?"

"No, but I could use another drink," she smiled sweetly at her fiancé as she reached for her empty wine glass. "One more before we go home?"

"Sure. Should I get Regina another glass?" He asked, his question directed at Daniel.

"Yeah," Daniel replied with a subtle nod before glancing back at the direction of the back hallway. "One more and we'll call it a night."

Emma just smiled when Neal dropped a light kiss to her temple before heading over to the bar and leaving her alone at the table with Daniel. She didn't mind Daniel, he was a good man and she had known him as long as Regina did. The four of them were all friends, they had been since freshman year in high school, and while she wouldn't necessarily hang out with Daniel without Regina or Neal around, she didn't mind spending time with him even if it made her feel even more guilty about her affair with his wife.

"Are you excited?"

"Hmm?" Emma asked distractedly before turning to look at him. "What was that?"

"Are you excited? Next weekend?" Daniel asked, leaning towards her a little. "The wedding?"

"Oh, yes. Of course I am!" Emma said, plastering the fake smile over her lips that had become far too easy in the last eleven or so odd years since their affair had started.

"I hope you don't mind, but I've planned a bachelor party for Neal on Thursday night. Don't worry, Regina already made me promise that there would be no strippers involved."

"Oh, I see."

"It's just a bunch of us guys getting together, the wedding party mostly."

"That should be fun," Emma replied, her fake smile still fully in place. "I wouldn't mind if there were strippers involved. I mean it is a bachelor party after all."

"Regina minds," Daniel chuckled.

"Regina minds what?" Regina asked as she sat down in the chair next to her husband. "What are you two talking about?"

"Neal's bachelor party."

Regina scoffed and folded her arms over her chest. "I asked for one condition to be taken into consideration and that is—"

"No strippers," Daniel smiled and he draped an arm over her shoulders. "Honey, don't worry. Neal doesn't want them either. Besides, why would we want strippers when we have such beautiful women to go home to at night, hmm?"

"You said the bachelor party is on Thursday? We're not getting married until Saturday," Emma said and Regina rubbed pointedly at the left side of her neck and glared at her. "What?"

"You have something on your neck," she muttered through clenched teeth and Emma wiped at the left side of her neck, faintly feeling the lipstick she had missed while she'd still been in the bathroom. "I believe Thursday is a good choice. I am sure you wouldn't want your soon-to-be husband hung-over on your wedding day."

"Definitely not," Emma said under her breath, still wiping at her neck until Regina shook her head and she dropped her hand to her lap. "So, Regina," she said with a smile that was anything but fake. "Are you throwing me a bachelorette party?"

"I thought you very specifically told me that you did not want one?"

Emma shrugged as Neal came back to the table with two glasses of red wine and two beers precariously balanced on a small tray. "I mean it'd be fun, right?"

Emma knew as well as Regina did that the reason Regina, as her maid of honour, was not going to throw her a bachelorette party was for the simple fact that they would have at least six hours alone together two nights before she walked down the aisle to marry Neal Cassidy.

"What are we talking about?"

"Bachelor party," Daniel chuckled. "And the lack of strippers, and also Emma's bachelorette party that she apparently doesn't want."

"Why not, Em?" Neal asked after he placed her wine glass in front of her. "Don't you want to have fun and let loose for one night?"

"As opposed to what we do every Saturday night together?" Emma asked him and he laughed before kissing her temple as he had before he'd left the table. "Honestly, it doesn't make a difference to me. Party or no party. We're still getting married."

"You should have one," Neal said. "At the house. Same night as mine. Invite all the girls in the wedding party and the rest of your friends. I could crash at Dan's place that night," he said, looking over to Daniel for affirmation that it'd be all right. Upon Daniel's nod, Neal smiled wide. "So? Why don't you have one too, Em?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, careful to keep her gaze on Regina too long, but she was conflicted because she could sense something beneath the intense brown eyes that were locked with her own. "Maybe. It's up to Regina, after all, as my maid of honour. I just have to show up, right?"

Emma watched Regina as she took three large sips of her wine before placing the glass down on the table in front of her. She was tense and whenever Regina was tense, it was never a good thing. Tense meant they went a few days without sneaking off together for a moment or two alone. Tense meant that Regina ignored her texts and her calls. Tense meant that Daniel came over to the house to retreat to the garage that Neal had converted into the "Man Cave" where they spent hours drinking and watching sports.

"If you must know," Regina said, pausing to take another sip of her wine, "Emma and I will be spending the next week going over the last little details of the wedding and making sure that all is in order before next Saturday. We can't always be the groom and obliged just to show up on time and preferably sober."

"Ditto," Neal laughed and he toasted Daniel's raised bottle of beer and took a swig.

The next half an hour went by quickly, but Emma's mind was everywhere else but her wedding that was quickly approaching. While she and Neal had been together for over five years, engaged for three, she was still weary about marrying him. Like Daniel, Neal was a good man, and he definitely didn't deserve marrying someone who was having an affair that had lasted the last eleven years of their lives. The guilt came in waves, over and over again until she finished her glass of wine and the four of them got up to leave, Daniel and Neal covering their tab while Regina walked out of the bar with her arm linked with Emma's, neither moving apart even when they had stepped outside together into the cool night air.

"Do you want one?" Regina asked quietly, pulling Emma's attention to her. "A bachelorette party? Do you want one, Emma?"

"No," she said softly. "I just want to spend the night with you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Emma—"

"If you're going to tell me it is the last time we're going to be together, I don't want to hear that. Not tonight."

"Emma—"

"Regina, please. Don't."

Regina sighed heavily as she unlinked their arms. Emma frowned and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering at the chill in the air and wishing she'd worn her jacket that night. She could feel her stomach twisting in knots and she could hardly bear to look at Regina as they waited outside for Daniel and Neal.

"It's wrong," Regina whispered. "It is. It's so wrong, but I can't stop."

Emma swallowed thickly as she tilted her head back and stared up at the stars in the sky. She wasn't going to allow herself to cry, not in front of Regina, and definitely not until Neal had fallen asleep in their bed later on that night.

"In a different life, Emma, it wouldn't be this way."

"What way would it be like then, Regina? Huh?" Emma snapped and she choked back her tears and quickly turned away as a few of them managed to fall. "You and I would never work out, Regina. You made that very clear a long time ago."

"I know. I'm sorry, Emma."

"So am I."

"Why?" Emma asked, her emotions getting to the better of her and she could blame part of it on the wine she'd drank that evening. "Why are _you_ sorry, Regina?"

"You're my best friend, Emma," she whispered so quietly that Emma was sure she had imagined her saying those words. "I love you, I do, but maybe not the way you would like me to. For that, I am sorry."

"Don't."

"Emma—"

"Don't do this, Regina," she snapped and she took a step back from her when Regina reached out. "Just…just go home with your husband. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Regina reeled back and nodded after a moment. "Yes, I'll see you tomorrow. Lunch at Granny's with our mother's as we planned? To finalize the menu?"

Neal and Daniel chose that moment to come stumbling out of the Rabbit Hole together, laughing and jabbing at each other with inside jokes neither of them would ever get nor understand.

"Tomorrow at eleven," Emma said tightly. "We're already cutting it close on the menu as it is. Neal cannot decide whether he wants steak or chicken."

"Chicken," Neal chuckled as he slung an arm over Emma's shoulders. "Who doesn't like chicken?"

"Not me," Daniel replied and he was afforded with an eye roll from his wife. Emma had to cast her eyes away as he leaned in to kiss Regina and she turned to Neal, poking him roughly in the side.

"Maybe we should call a cab," she said quietly. "None of us are sober enough to drive right now."

"Already on it," Neal replied. "Should be here in a few minutes. After all, Storybrooke only has two cab drivers and it is Saturday night."

"Right."

"We're going to walk," Daniel announced just a minute later. "Get home safe you two, you hear?"

"Of course," Neal laughed. "You too!"

Emma just watched Regina as she was led down the street by her husband, neither looking back as they walked arm in arm and turned down the first corner and disappeared completely. Emma turned to Neal then with a frown. They didn't need a cab as their house was only three blocks away, but the moment she saw the glazed look in his eyes, she knew there was no way she was walking home with him in the state he was currently in.

She put Neal to bed once they were home and she retreated to the kitchen for a small glass of wine before she too went to sleep. Sleeping in the same bed as the man she was engaged to marry had become harder and harder. It had gotten to the point where she found any and every excuse to sleep on the couch rather in bed next to him.

Some nights she even fell asleep to the sound of Regina's voice, her phone cradled to her ear, but that night was not one of them when she tried to call her in those few minutes between putting Neal to bed and making up the couch in the living room for herself.

In a different life…they'd be going to bed together. In a different life, everything would work out between them and they'd not only share a life with one another, they'd be making one. Together. In a different life, they'd be impossibly be in love with one another and not married to men who deserved more than what they both had to offer. They'd actually be happy.

In a different life…

A life Emma had only wished for since their affair had started so long ago.

[X]

Regina tapped the end of her pen against the daily planner she had open on her desk impatiently. Monday mornings in the office were always the worst and they were one of the days that she dreaded most out of the entire week. This particular week was different than others and it did nothing but remind her of the week before her own wedding years before.

Beside her day planner sat the divorce papers, papers she had been reluctant to sign for weeks. Kathryn Midas, close friend and her attorney, had called her a half an hour before asking to send the papers over to her office, signed and completed, so she could file them and serve Daniel with his own copy before the day was over.

She had been putting it off since the day she asked Kathryn to draw the papers up for her. She had been putting it off and was running out of time because Emma's wedding was coming up faster than ever before and if she didn't make a move now, she had no idea how much longer it'd be before she could.

Once upon a time, she had been head over heels in love with Daniel and he was everything she had ever dreamt of in a husband. He was kind, patient, loving, and even in times of distress, he stood strong and at her side without fail. He didn't deserve a wife that had spent the last eleven years in another relationship, an affair that had gone on for so long that Regina couldn't even seen past the lines of right and wrong anymore. Once upon a time, she had believed Daniel to be her true love, but she knew now that she had been wrong all along.

Daniel wasn't her true love. Emma Swan was and always had been, she'd just been too quick to deny it, and now she was teetering on the edge of their "relationship" and the fact that it could very much be over after Emma said, "I do" to Neal Cassidy.

When it had started, they were still young and still discovering themselves. Regina wasn't ready to come out of the proverbial closet at the time and she wasn't sure if she was even ready now, eleven years later.

There was one thing she'd been lying about to herself—and to Emma—for years and that was the fact that she denied being in love with her best friend. She knew from the very first time they kissed that she was in love with Emma Swan, but she had always been so quick to deny. Denial was a route that had seemed so much easier for so long, but she was tired of the lies and she was tired of faking happiness with Daniel when all she wanted was to find her happy ending with Emma.

Regina inhaled sharply and signed her name on the last paper, staring at Daniel's name next to her own. How had it come to this? She had been happy, albeit briefly, during her marriage to Daniel, but it had been over a year since she let him touch her, kiss her, and even hold her as they slept in the same bed. How had she not seen how unhappy she was all those years? Did Daniel see it too or did he not even notice at all?

"Mayor Mills?" Her assistant said as he knocked on her open office door. "Ms. Midas sent over James to pick up a package?"

"Right, of course," Regina nodded, quickly gathering up the papers and placing them back in the envelope. "Thank you, Everett."

"Can I get you anything, ma'am?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you."

He nodded and took the envelope from her, leaving her office door open on his way out. She had done her part, she signed the papers and now all that was left was for Daniel to sign them as well.

Divorce was an ugly word and not something she ever thought she'd go through. When word reached her mother, she knew she was in for a very long lecture on not trying hard enough to save her marriage. How could she save her marriage when she was in love with Emma Swan?

A sinking feeling flooded through her entire body. Emma was getting married in six days. Emma believed that she wasn't in love with her and that's why she was getting married in six days. Emma seemed content with their affair, never pushing her for more, never questioning whether or not they were doing something wrong. How could something be so wrong when it felt so right?

Regina stood up from her desk and walked over to the conference table. While she hadn't been in office long, elected after she spent the better part of a year filling in for her father while he recovered from a massive heart attack he'd had the previous summer, the office was comfortable and because she shared the same tastes as her father, she hadn't had to make many changes to the décor.

Her eyes fell on to the papers that lined the table on the far end, papers and fabric samples and pictures, all of them for Emma's wedding she'd helped her plan. She scoffed as she picked up a picture of the dress Emma had found in one of the bridal magazines shortly after Neal had proposed and she could just picture Emma in the very same dress, only it wasn't Neal she was walking down the aisle to marry, it was _her_.

She gathered up all the paper and piled it neatly. Emma was supposed to meet her there at the office before they met up with their mother's at the diner to finalize the menu for the wedding. If she was honest with herself, she was dreading that meeting, dreading it not only because it meant making the last decision for the upcoming nuptials, but also because it would be impossible for the two of them to slip away to find a moment alone with both of their mother's there. They had tried it before and nearly gotten caught.

There had been many incidents over the years where they had nearly been caught, but they had always been so very careful. Daniel nearly caught them several times when Emma and Neal had been over at the house for dinner and she and Emma had stayed behind in the kitchen to clean up. If it hadn't been for the island and the fact that he was more focused on getting a few beers out of the refrigerator, he would've caught Emma with her hand up Regina's skirt, her fingers buried inside of her to the hilt as she reached the beginnings of her climax.

Regina felt a chill rush through her body, a delicious one that sparked her into a state of arousal. She paced through her office, stopping only to glance at the watch on her wrist every couple of minutes. Her mind went back and forth between Emma, the wedding, Daniel, divorce, lunch at the diner and the handful of meetings she had that afternoon.

"Hey," Emma said as she leaned against the open office door. "You busy, Madam Mayor?"

Regina smiled as she motioned for her to enter. "Close the door behind you, Deputy Swan," she said loud enough for her otherwise oblivious assistant to hear her. "Lock it," she said lowly and Emma immediately complied.

"I know I'm early," she said as they met halfway. "Graham let me take the day off."

"That was certainly nice of him."

"Yeah," Emma shrugged and she placed her hands into the back pockets of her impossibly tight jeans. "Seriously though, are you busy right now?"

"Do I look busy to you?"

"No?"

Her office had been strictly off limits when it came to indulging in a stolen moment together, but her morning had been stressful and she hadn't seen Emma since Saturday night at the bar. She languidly draped her arms over Emma's shoulders with a teasing smile dancing over her lips.

"Regina?"

"Hmm?"

"I thought—"

She cut Emma off with a kiss, one that was soft and sweet. She relaxed when she felt Emma's hands come to rest on her hips and she kissed her deeper, wanting nothing more than to tell her how much she truly wanted her, all of her, all to herself. She wanted to tell Emma that she had signed the divorce papers, but she couldn't, not yet, not until Daniel signed them too. She wanted to beg Emma to call off the wedding. She wanted to ask Emma to be hers. But she couldn't. Not yet.

"I thought you said your office is off limits?" Emma murmured against her lips and Regina just smiled, kissing her once more before stepping out of their embrace.

"It is," she said, smoothing her hands over her plum coloured blouse.

"Right, of course," Emma said with a shake of her head. "Do you have a copy of the menu we went over a few weeks ago?"

"Yes, it's in that pile somewhere," she said as she waved over towards the conference table. She walked over to the table with Emma following close behind and she gasped as Emma's hands fell to her hips and pulled her body against her own. "Emma."

"Why wouldn't you let me touch you the other night?" Emma whispered into her ear as her hands glided down her thighs, stopping when her fingertips reached the hem of her skirt. "Regina?"

"We—we were pressed for time."

"We're always pressed for time," she replied. "Remember when we made a point in making more time together, Regina?"

"Yes."

"I know you said that we can't do this here," Emma continued, her fingers easing her skirt up her legs slowly. "But can't we bend the rules a little bit? We don't have to meet our mother's for another…hour," she said just as her right hand slipped between Regina's thighs and teased over her skin of her inner thighs before cupping her over her silk panties.

"Emma…"

"Do you realize that it's been almost a month since I last tasted you?"

Regina knees buckled as Emma slipped her fingers under her panties and teased them along her slit. She widened her stance and leaned back against Emma, her eyes sliding shut as Emma circled a finger over her clit. Her heart was racing, her clit throbbing, and she ached for more.

"Emma," Regina groaned quietly. "Don't tease me."

"Hmm?" Emma moaned into her ear, her lips brushing over her skin just as she deftly slipped a single finger inside of her. "One more?"

"Yes."

Regina moaned quietly and her hips rolled as Emma slipped a second finger inside of her. Emma nipped at her ear before trailing her lips down her neck slowly, each kiss lingering longer than the last. When her knees buckled a second time, Emma slipped her fingers out from inside her and slicked them over her several times before bringing her hand up to her lips. Regina trembled as she turned slightly and watched as Emma licked her fingers clean.

"Fuck," Emma groaned. "Are you sure we can't…have a little fun, Regina? The door is locked and your assistant always listens to music while he works. He won't hear us, he won't know."

"Emma…"

"You may be saying no, but I know what you really want, Regina," Emma grinned and she turned Regina around and lifted her up onto the conference table.

"Emma, not here. I have council meetings at this table!"

"You also have a cleaning lady who comes in and cleans every inch of this office every night after you go home."

"That is not what I was implying," Regina replied coldly and she tried to get off the table, but Emma held her firm and stepped between her legs. "Emma—"

Her heels clattered to the floor the moment Emma's lips were on hers and practically devouring her whole. She couldn't protest any longer, not when she wanted this stolen moment with Emma so badly she no longer cared they were in her office and that her assistant was just on the other side of the door at his desk. They were kissing hungrily and Regina lifted herself up when she felt Emma's fingers tug at her silk panties and they broke apart from their kiss, both gasping as Emma removed her panties.

The table was cool against her skin, but Regina didn't have a moment to complain before Emma dropped to her knees and spread Regina's legs by smoothing her hands up her inner thighs slowly. Regina leaned back on her elbows and moaned low in her chest at the feel of Emma's lips kissing up along her inner thighs, alternating between each one until she placed the softest of kisses over her cunt and her tongue dipped out to tease over her clit.

Regina threw her head back and bit her bottom lip in an attempt to stifle the moan that still slipped out. After a few teasing swipes of her tongue, Emma fixed her mouth over her cunt fully, drawing out another moan past her lips. She was certainly glad it had been too warm to wear nylons because she was certain Emma would've ripped them off of her anyway.

With every moan that fell past Emma's lips, it reverberated through her entire body, bringing her closer to the edge each time. She gripped at the edge of the table and arched her back as Emma sucked over her clit hard. She resisted the urge to bury her hands into Emma's hair, an impossible feat since she had her long blonde hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. With just a few more swipes of Emma's tongue over her clit, a small but powerful orgasm flooded through her body and she clamped her right hand over her mouth to quiet the moans she just couldn't seem to hold back.

"Mmm," Emma groaned quietly, licking over her lazily for a moment before rising from the floor. She cupped her pussy lightly and helped her sit back up, their lips meeting in a deep, hungry kiss.

And one that they both pulled back from in a panic when someone tried to open the locked door. Regina pushed Emma away hard and hopped off the table. She smoothed out her skirt, not bothering to ask Emma for the panties she knew were residing in her back pocket. She put on her heels just as four hard knocks sounded on the door.

"Regina?" Her mother called out and her eyes went wide at the sound of her voice on the other side of the door. "Regina, open the door, dear."

"What is your mother doing here?" Emma hissed as she wiped at her lips and chin. "Regina?"

"I have no idea! Stall her," she said quietly and she quickly rushed across the office to the small bathroom on the other side, grabbing her purse off her desk as she passed it. She just barely managed to shut the door when Emma opened the office door to let her mother in.

"Cora, hey," Emma said as she greeted Regina's mother. "I though you were going to meet us at the diner?"

"Your mother called me," Cora replied. "She has misplaced her copy of the menu and since neither of you have been answering your phones, I decided to stop by."

Regina groaned quietly. She had requested earlier for her assistant to hold her calls for the morning, not wanting to get caught up in a phone conversation when she had plans to leave the office just before eleven. She pulled her cell phone out of her purse. It had been left on silent since she'd left that morning. Two missed calls from Emma's mother and two from her own.

With a shake of her head, she turned to the mirror just above the small sink. Her lipstick was a mess and she used a Kleenex to wipe at the edges of her mouth before reapplying her red lipstick carefully.

"What have you two been up to that neither of you could answer your phones?"

Regina inhaled sharply as she placed the tube of lipstick back into her purse and waited by the door to hear what Emma had to say. She clutched her purse to her chest and held her breath.

"We were just going over some last minute details for the wedding," Emma replied, sounding calm and collected even though Regina knew she was anything but. "We got a little distracted."

"I see."

Regina let out a sigh of relief before exiting the small bathroom. "Hello, Mother. I thought we were going to meet at the diner at eleven?" She said as calmly as she could manage.

"Mary Margaret misplaced the menu we'll be going over today. We both tried to call and neither of you could be bothered to answer your phones and your pimply-faced, useless assistant informed me that you were not taking calls this morning. Seeing as I was already on my way to the diner, I thought I'd stop by."

Regina walked over to the table and went through the papers she'd piled up before Emma had arrived. She found the menu near the bottom and handed it over to her mother who was watching her with a careful eye.

Cora just huffed before turning on her heels and heading for the door. Emma was about to follow when Regina grabbed on to her arm. She could see the panic in Emma's eyes she had no doubt mirrored her own and she just shook her head and plucked her panties out of Emma's back pocket.

"And that is why my office is off limits, Emma," she said through gritted teeth and stuff her panties into her purse before heading out after her mother. "We nearly got caught, Emma!"

"Shit, I'm sorry, Regina," Emma frowned a moment later after she jogged to catch up to her. "Hey," she stopped Regina just as they reached the stairs. "I am sorry."

Regina was on edge and when she was sure her mother was already out of the building, she turned to Emma with a frown. "This needs to stop."

"What?"

"This…affair, Emma. It needs to stop."

"Why?"

"Because," she said, careful to keep her voice low as she stepped closer to her and felt her heart lodge itself in her throat. "You are getting married in six days."

"I—I thought you said before that it wouldn't matter? That we would still find a way to be together, Regina?"

"I know what I said."

Regina didn't stay there for another second, quickly descending the stairs with Emma hot on her heels. She knew Emma well enough to know she wanted nothing more than to discuss things further with her and likely do what she did best and change her mind. Yet, Regina was not in the mood, not after nearly getting caught in post-coital bliss. All it took was one look back at Emma and a quick aversion of her eyes to avoid falling for her adorable pout that always, without fail, made her cave in completely.

As much as she wanted to be with Emma, to continue their affair, to have it become something else—something more, she just wasn't sure how much more she could take or just how much longer it would be before someone caught them in the act.

And if that were to ever happen, it could end disastrously for both of them. If their affair was to come to an end, it would be on her terms and not because they'd been caught.

Yet, just thinking about ending things with Emma made her heart feel heavy with dread. She loved Emma, she loved what they had together, and she wasn't quite ready to give that up yet even if that made her a completely selfish person with questionable morals.

Was it the guilt? Was it almost being caught? Was it her impending divorce and knowing that she could've had a chance if only Emma wasn't getting married in less that six whole days? She wasn't sure, but she was sure of one thing: she had to figure things out and she had to figure things out _soon_ …


	2. Part II

Author's Notes: Thank you to those who have left reviews, it's much appreciated and I am thankful for each and every one of them! Here is the second part and I will make it known now that I am unsure on when the third part will be completed, but I'll try my best to get it written quickly as this is the first story I've written in a long time that I didn't already have a few chapters already written. On that note, all mistakes are mine. Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review :)

* * *

Emma sat in the booth beside Regina, their mother's sitting on the other side of the table and deeply immersed in talks about her upcoming wedding. Emma's mind wasn't on the wedding or the little things they had to finalize before Friday at the very latest. No, her mind was on Regina and what had happened in her office earlier.

Even after polishing off her favourite, a greasy cheeseburger with the works with a side of fries and a Coke, every time she licked over her lips she could still ever so faintly taste Regina and it did nothing but cause her libido to go into overdrive.

"Emma?"

"Hmm?" Emma turned to look at her mother and briefly at Cora beside her. "What was that?"

"I was asking you if you decided on the appetizer. Granny needs to know today."

"Right, uh," Emma grabbed the only copy of the menu for the reception and looked over it. There were the basic appetizers listed and a few had a question mark beside them. She turned to look at Regina and found her to be just as cold and withdrawn as she'd been since she left her office. "Let's go with the stuffed mushrooms, spinach dip, bruschetta, those little mini sausage things—"

"Pigs in a blanket," Mary Margaret said as she quickly wrote it down on her pad of paper that had barely left her side since Emma started planning the wedding. With a nod, she motioned at her to continue. "One more, Emma. There should be at least five different options for the guests during cocktail hour."

"Uh," she sighed as she scratched the back of her neck. Some of the things listed were appetizers that seemed far too fancy and not at all appetizing. "Cheese and crackers? Goes good with the wine we're serving?"

"What kind of cheese?" Cora asked her stiffly and Emma just shrugged. "To pair cheese and wine, you must know what pairs well with the other."

"I don't know," Emma shrugged again. "I'm not some kind of cheese and wine expert here. Regina?"

"Yes?"

"What is that cheese you put out when Neal and I come over for dinner and you bring out that fancy merlot for us to drink?"

"Gouda," Regina replied dryly.

"Right, that," Emma said as she pointed to the pad of paper in front of her mother. "Gouda and crackers."

"That covers the appetizers," Mary Margaret said and she flipped the page on the pad and smiled over at Emma. "First entrée?"

Emma frowned as she looked at the menu. Garden salad, chicken optional, three different dressings offered and parmesan cheese along with pepper as per request. She furrowed her brow and looked over at Regina and again receiving nothing but a cold, uninterested look from her.

"I guess we're good on that," she said with a slight shrug. "Not everyone likes salad though, right?"

"Perhaps you should offer additional appetizers for those who would rather skip the salad entrée," Cora suggested and Mary Margaret just nodded in agreement and wrote it down in her little book. "I trust you have a vegetarian meal option?"

"It was on the invitations," Mary Margaret replied. "Fourteen selected that option so we have a meal planned out for them. It's everyone else we're deciding for."

"Salad and additional appetizers," Cora nodded. "Second course?"

"Emma and Neal decided on lasagne, Regina's recipe actually which she was all too kind to share with Granny for Emma's big day," Mary Margaret said with a bright smile. "I don't think Granny will be able to make it as good as you," she said as she leaned towards Regina. "But I am sure it will still be delicious."

"Of course," Regina replied tightly and she pushed her plate of her lunch half-eaten in front of her. "Last course?" Regina asked. "What was it again?"

"Optional," Mary Margaret replied. "Steak with a baked potato and steamed vegetables. Guests will be asked during the appetizer if they would like the final course or not."

"Neal chose that," Emma said under her breath. "He likes a good steak. He has been a little indecisive about whether he wants the chicken or the steak, but I figure since we're offering chicken with the salad, we don't need to—"

"Are you planning on giving your guests a meal that'll induce a heart attack?" Cora asked and Regina snapped out of the funk she was in and glared at her mother. "What? I was just saying—"

"Mother, that is enough. The menu is fine. Isn't it, Emma?"

"Yeah?" Emma looked at Regina, at her mother and then at Cora. "We want everyone to enjoy their meal. I know it's not nearly as healthy as what it was at Regina and Daniel's wedding, but I know what the people we invited like. Do you want to know the vegetarian menu, Cora?"

"I'm well aware of what has been selected for that particular meal."

"It is settled then?" Mary Margaret intervened. "Emma, are you happy with this?"

"Yeah," she nodded with a smile that almost hurt as she forced it over her lips. She glanced over at Regina and the smile quickly disappeared. "Regina?"

"What?"

"The menu?" Emma asked timidly. "It's okay, right?"

"Yes. It's fine."

Emma nodded and tried to fight the frown that was becoming the dominant expression on her face for the last hour. All throughout planning the wedding, Regina had been there for her every step of the way, as had both of their mother's, much like it had been when Regina had planned her own wedding. Their affair aside, they had been best friends for a long time and it was only natural for them to be there for each other for one of the biggest—and supposedly happiest—days of their lives.

Emma wasn't happy. She had thought over the last handful of months that it was just a case of her getting cold feet. She had tried to be enthusiastic about the planning, but her mother had more than enough enthusiasm to cover up the fact that Emma was simply going through the motions because that was exactly what was expected of her.

"Anything else?" Mary Margaret asked and Emma shook her head no. "Then I think we've got the menu finalized."

"Wonderful. I've contacted the winery and they should have the shipment that you ordered delivered by Friday morning," Cora said and Emma nodded, dropping her hands to her lap heavily. "As I did when Regina and Daniel were married, I've taken the liberty to provide a few dozen bottles of cider."

"Thank you, Cora," Emma smiled but her mother was frowning. "Um, how much do you want us to pay you for that?" She asked, knowing exactly what her mother was thinking.

"Nonsense," Cora waved her off. "You're already paying enough for the wedding as it is. Consider this a gift of sorts. Don't you worry, dear," Cora said with a smile that was far too forced. "Henry and I have already settled on a wedding gift for you and Neal."

"The cabin up north by the border for a week?" Regina asked and it had been the same thing that Henry and Cora had done when she and Daniel had gotten married. It wasn't exactly an ideal honeymoon, but it was an escape from their small town life. "Really, Mother?"

"The renovations have been done for weeks and I thought that Emma and Neal would enjoy their honeymoon there seeing how Emma enjoyed spending those weeks during the summer with us when you two were in high school."

Emma glanced down at her hands in her lap and over to Regina's bare thighs that showed just under the hem of her skirt. How easy it'd be to place a hand on her left thigh and slide it between her legs without either of their mother's knowing anything was happening just half a foot away on the other side of the booth. Emma clenched her jaw and cursed silently at herself for even thinking of making such a risky move. She couldn't do something like that, especially _not_ in the presence of their mother's or anyone else for that matter.

Still, she gave into the temptation just for the briefest of seconds and ran the tips of her fingers along Regina's outer thigh just below the hem of her skirt. She could feel how tense Regina grew in the moment her fingers touched her soft, warm skin, but she didn't pull back, she just let her touch linger.

"So," Mary Margaret said with a small cough. "We're all set here then, aren't we? We're okay with the menu?"

"Yes," Emma nodded. "It's okay, isn't it?"

"A little…redneck, but then again, you're only the other daughter I never had," Cora said pointedly. "Whatever makes you and Neal happy, dear, is all that truly matters in the end."

"Yeah," Emma replied with a shrug. "I guess so."

"Tell me, dear, when are you and Neal planning on starting a family?" Cora asked and Emma grasped on to Regina's thigh a bit tighter than she meant to. "I keep asking Regina how much longer I must wait for grandbabies and she can never give me a clear answer. You and Neal _have_ talked about having a family, haven't you?"

"Uh…no, not really," Emma muttered and it was her mother's kick to her shin that made her wince. "I mean we haven't talked about it at all. I'm sure after the wedding we will though."

"I can't wait for grandchildren," Mary Margaret swooned and Emma released the grip she had on Regina's thigh, but didn't move her hand away. "No pressure Emma, but you are nearing your thirties and once you get there, it'll be harder to get pregnant and carry a healthy baby to term."

"I know, Mom. You keep telling me that."

"No pressure," she repeated and Cora rolled her eyes in the very same way Regina did whenever she was thoroughly annoyed.

"I should really get back to the office," Regina said and she placed her hand on top of Emma's and gave it a small squeeze, one that Emma knew all too well and exactly what it meant. She turned to face her then and cleared her throat. "I know that Sheriff Graham gave you the day off, but I have a meeting with several business owners who are complaining about graffiti and I think it would be beneficial if a member of our local police department sits in on the meeting. What do you think, Emma? Are you up for an hour of listening to them complaining about the continuous vandalism and help to come up with a solution to put an end to it?"

"Sure," Emma smiled and Regina let go of her hand then and very subtly placed it down on the table to grasp at her nearly untouched cup of coffee. "Mom, is there anything else we need to do?"

"No, honey," she said with a shake of her head. "I'll let Granny know there aren't that many changes to the menu before I head out. Are you and Neal still coming over for dinner tonight?"

"I don't know. I'll let you know when I talk to him later."

Emma followed Regina out of the booth and the two hugged their mother's goodbye and exited the diner together. Neither said a word and they didn't have to as they made their way around the corner and headed to where Emma parked her car just down the street from the town hall. Normally, Regina would refuse to get into her Yellow Volkswagen, but she didn't that time and they got in and Emma drove the short distance to the bungalow she and Neal had bought a few years back.

Emma momentarily worried about the dirty dishes piled up in the sink, the beer cans that Neal had a habit of leaving on the living room table, and the questionable state of their bedroom, but the instant the two were inside the house, those worries disappeared when Regina shoved her against the door, slamming it shut, and kissed her hard.

If they ended up in Emma's house, they never went into her and Neal's bedroom, always opting for the guest room. There was a couch in there and Neal's desk and not much more, but it made Emma feel less guilty about being with Regina when they were in there.

Regina was the one who led the way to the guest room and all without breaking away from Emma's lips. Their hands grasped at clothes and Emma was careful not to rip the buttons of Regina's blouse off. They were naked before they collapsed on the couch together with Regina on top and her fingers sinking in between Emma's folds, not wasting a moment to plunge two deep inside of her.

She stopped Regina by cupping her face gently in her hands and took a moment just to look deeply into her eyes. She couldn't remember the last time they'd been together, truly together without leaving most of their clothes on in a haste to steal away the moment without getting caught. Regina blinked for a moment, looking confused as she withdrew her fingers and let them linger over her hip.

"What's wrong, Emma?"

"Nothing, nothing is wrong," Emma smiled up at her and she swept her hands down Regina's back and settled on her hips, pulling her body flush against her own. "I just want to feel you."

"We'll have plenty of time for that on Thursday night," Regina whispered, ghosting her lips over Emma's. "Unfortunately, time is not on our side right now. I wasn't kidding about that meeting."

"You weren't?"

"No."

"How much time _do_ we have?"

"Enough."

"Regina."

"Half an hour, tops."

Emma frowned and her pout was quickly kissed away by Regina, the kiss slow and light at first. When Regina began to roll her hips down against Emma, they began kissing hungrily as their hands grasped at one another. The couch wasn't too small, but it didn't allow them to move as freely as they both wished. Every other roll of Regina's hips brought their cunts sliding together and every third time Emma could feel Regina's hard clit brush against her own. It wasn't enough to push either over the edge, but in that moment Emma didn't care because all she had wanted was to _feel_ Regina.

It was a bit of a struggle to roll over until she hovered over Regina's sinfully beautiful naked body and Emma just grinned down at her as she thrust and rolled her hips down, her cunt sliding over Regina's as she gripped on to one leg to hold her open wider for her. Normally, Regina protested against her being on top, but for some reason she didn't utter a word, she only just grasped on to the back of Emma's neck and pulled her down for a hungry kiss.

They broke apart suddenly by the sound of Neal calling out Emma's name and Emma was certain that they were about to be caught. Both moved incredibly quickly to get dressed in a panic and Regina buttoned up her shirt, reaching the third last button as Neal walked into the room.

"Em? What are you doing home?"

"I forgot something from the wedding binder," Emma said as she quickly rushed him out of the room. It smelled of sex, not overly strong, but just strong enough that if he stayed in there a moment longer he might just figure out what they were really up to just moments before. "I thought I left it in here. Regina was helping me look for the binder."

"The binder is on the kitchen table," Neal said with an eyebrow raised and he scratched over the scruff on his cheek. "Are you all right? Your face is flushed."

"Regina and I were—"

"Arguing, of course," Regina said from behind them. "You know how we both get, Neal. We're both too stubborn at the best of times."

"What were you arguing about?"

"I told her the binder wouldn't be in there," Regina said before Emma could stutter and stammer her way through an illegible answer. "And it turns out that I was right. Again."

Neal seemed to buy it and shrugged as he headed into the kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. He motioned to Emma to come in to the kitchen and he pointed to the white binder on the table that held all the details, big and small and all the ones in between when it came to their upcoming wedding. Emma sheepishly grabbed the binder and clutched it to her chest as she stared at the man she was due to marry in six days.

"What are you doing home, Neal?"

"Oh, we had a half day. Didn't I tell you this morning?"

"No?"

"Must've slipped my mind," he shrugged. "What are you doing home, Em? Didn't you have to meet up with Cora and Mary Margaret for lunch?"

"We actually just came from there," Emma replied and she stared down at the binder and frowned slightly.

She hated lying even thought that's all she and Regina ever seemed to do ever since their affair had begun. She hated lying because she was so sick of trying to keep track of all of them, not to mention making some of the lies believable when they really weren't at all. Neal seemed to be indifferent, only focused more on downing his cold beer in the middle of the day than over the fact that he had nearly caught the two of them fucking in the guest room he used as an office.

"I'm meeting up with the boys in an hour," Neal said and Emma just nodded. "You aren't going to ask me why?"

"Why?"

"Final tux fittings," he said with a goofy grin. "We weren't going to do it until Thursday before the party, but Dan called not too long ago and said the tailor could see us today at any time."

"Great. Good to know you were planning on leaving it to the last minute, Neal."

"Em, it's not like they're making any major alterations. It's a final fitting just to make sure it all fits right, you know?"

"I know."

"Are you wearing lipstick?" Neal asked and Emma felt her heart begin to race hard and fast in a panic that felt too much like those handful of minutes before Neal had walked in on them. "You never wear lipstick."

"Uh I was trying on different shades, playing around with a few of them, for the wedding."

"Red looks good on you," he said sweetly and with an oblivious smile curling over his lips and she turned her head at the last second when he moved to plant a kiss on her lips. "You heading out?"

"Yeah," Emma nodded as she stepped back from him. "Regina has a meeting with some business owner's and wanted me to sit in on it."

"Sounds boring," Neal chuckled. "I should be home around five. I thought—"

"Do you want me to stop at Granny's and pick up dinner tonight?"

"Would you?"

"Sure," Emma nodded, slowly backing up towards the entrance to the kitchen where Regina was waiting and watching their awkward conversation in complete silence. "The usual?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "Is she great or what, Regina?"

"Wonderful," Regina replied tightly. "Shall we go, Emma? The meeting is due to start soon and I would hate to keep anyone waiting."

Emma just quickly ushered Regina out of the house, dropping the binder on the table near the front door. Neither said a word until they were in Emma's car and Emma was fumbling with the keys to the point of almost dropping them.

"Perhaps we should think about what we're going to do after the wedding."

"What?" Emma blinked as she looked over at Regina. "What do you mean?"

"We can't keep doing this."

"How many times have we said that?" Emma asked and she shook her head before sliding the key into the ignition. "Regina—"

"We almost got caught! That's twice today! Twice!" Regina groaned quietly and she pulled her tube of lipstick out of her purse and pulled the visor down, using the small mirror to reapply her lipstick slowly. "Twice, Emma. That's more than it's been in months and it all happened _today_."

"Do you really want to stop?"

Emma looked over at her, waiting for her answer, but she could see the answer without Regina having to say a word. Regina just sighed and folded her hands over her purse in her lap after she placed the tube of lipstick back inside.

"No, but we may have to for a while, Emma."

"Why?"

"You're getting married."

"You're already married," Emma countered and Regina scoffed, which in turn made Emma let go of the gearshift before she could even back out of the driveway. "Regina?"

"I won't be for much longer. Married, that is."

"What do you mean?"

"I signed the divorce papers this morning."

Emma did a double take. Regina was getting a divorce? "Regina?"

"What?" Regina snapped and she took a few deep breaths to calm herself. "I wasn't going to tell you until Daniel had signed the papers."

"You filed for it?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I am not happy with him, Emma. I kept trying to be happy, but realized what a fool I was being in trying to convince myself that Daniel is— _was_ my happy ending. Maybe at one point in my life he might have been, but he isn't now."

Emma's stomach dropped and her heart seemed to freeze. Regina was getting a divorce and there she was getting married in six days, less than. The whole reason Emma even started seeing Neal was because she had come to realize that Regina wasn't going to end her marriage to be with her and there they were now with Regina filing for divorce and she was marrying the man she'd settled on. Everything was completely screwed up and Emma didn't know whether she wanted to cry, yell, or laugh about it all.

With a shake of her head, she put the Bug in reverse and backed out of the narrow driveway, shifting into the first gear hard enough to make the gears grind in protest as she hit the gas. The drive to the town hall, despite only being a handful of minutes, was rather tense and when she parked beside Regina's car in the small parking lot, she didn't say a word as she killed the engine and jumped out of the car just as Regina reached over for her, her mouth agape as if she was at loss for words.

Emma was already entering the back door to the town hall that led directly to the staircase to the second floor. Her breath caught in her chest when she heard Regina's heels clacking loudly against the ground as she rushed to catch up to her before she could ascend up the stairs.

"Emma," Regina whispered and grabbed on to her right wrist. "I was going to tell you."

"When?"

"I—"

"After I married Neal?" Emma asked with a scoff. "You _really_ don't want to be with me in any other way than what we've had for the last fucking decade, do you?"

"No, Emma, no," Regina replied, tears filling her eyes as she backed Emma up against the small corner that tucked them away and hid them from any immediate line of sight of anyone walking nearby. "As soon as he signed the papers, I was going to tell you."

"And then what?"

"I—I don't know."

"Can you answer one question?" Emma asked and she knew she was about to cross the unspoken boundaries they'd put in place a long time ago. Upon Regina's reluctant nod, Emma wet her lips before continuing. "Are you not happy with him because of what we have?"

"Emma—"

"Answer the fucking question, Regina!"

"There are many factors as to why I am ending the marriage and it has nothing to do with what we have together."

Emma scoffed and pulled her hands free. "Right. Of course not. Is this meeting actually legit or did you want to break your rules about not fucking in your office again, hmm?"

"Emma—"

"You know what?" Emma asked angrily, her emotions finally getting to the better to her and she had to force herself not to walk away. "I would drop _everything_ in my life for you. If you told me that you didn't want me to marry Neal, I would put a stop to the wedding immediately. If you told me that you loved me the way that I love you, I would run away with you if that's what it took just to _be_ with you."

"Emma—"

"No, I can't do this right now," Emma snapped and she moved away from the corner and started to walk back over to her car, stopping after she made it all but three steps. She spun around and wasn't the least bit prepared to find Regina with tears streaming down her cheeks and all without an attempt to stop them. She felt her stomach twisting in knots, but she held firm. "You need to go back to work, Regina, and I—I need to just get out of here."

"Where are you going?"

"For a drive."

"Emma—"

"Don't do this now, Regina, please. Six days!" She said and she had to fight the urge to scream at her. "I'm getting married in six days and you've just filed for a divorce. You keep sending me all these fucking mixed signals and we—we just made love—you know what, no, I can't do this. Not now. Not today."

"Emma, please."

"Please what?"

"We need to talk."

"I don't want to talk."

"Emma—"

"Just go to your meeting, Mayor Mills. If you need someone from the sheriff's department there, call Graham. I have the day off."

"Emma!"

She ignored Regina and stormed off towards her car. She fought back her own tears and the urge to look back at her before she drove off. She had tunnel vision, something that didn't fade at all until she saw the "Leaving Storybrooke" sign and slammed on the brakes hard. She was shaking as she pulled over to the gravel shoulder on the side of the road and parked, sliding the emergency brake in place before she got out of the Bug and slammed the door as hard as she could manage.

"Fuck!" Emma screamed and she kicked the already dented door and made the dent itself worse. "Fucking fuck!"

How did she end up getting where she was, falling in love with her best friend over the last eleven years and carrying on an affair even when there were other's involved? Neal didn't deserve to marry someone like her, someone who wasn't faithful to him even though it had been going on long before they had gotten together. Daniel didn't deserve it either, to have a wife who would rather be with Emma than him. The guilt was mounting and it made Emma's heart feel constricted in her chest.

She started pacing on the shoulder and wondered what would've happened if Neal had actually caught them. What if they hadn't heard him come into the house? Would the wedding be over? Would he be upset?

"Don't be ridiculous," she muttered under her breath. "Of course he'd be upset."

Emma shook her head and continued to pace, the gravel crunching loudly beneath her boots. Her mind was racing and she started to wonder just how everyone in both of their lives would react if they ever found out that they had been carrying on an affair for eleven years.

Her parents, her mother especially, would be devastated for so many reasons. As far as Mary Margaret knew, Emma was with Neal and in love with him, faithful, and about to start a whole new chapter of their lives together. Her father, he would be upset too, though not as obvious as her mother would be. He'd likely put the blame on someone else other than her, maybe Neal, maybe even Regina, but never his own daughter.

Regina's parents were a whole different story and while her father would likely keep to himself, she knew Cora most definitely would not. She knew how strict the woman was and there had been times, especially when she and Regina had been in high school where Emma had been terrified of her. There was no telling how Cora would react, but she knew she'd put the blame on her and not Regina for carrying on with their affair even after Regina and Daniel had gotten married.

There were their friends too, but she knew out of everyone, Ruby would be one of the ones who would understand the most, she'd be one of the ones first to forgive and not to point blaming fingers at either of them. The others, Emma wasn't quite sure, but a part of her truly did not want to find out.

Then there were the people of Storybrooke and with Regina being the mayor, it was a scandal the small town had never seen before. It would put her job at risk and she'd possibly be forced out of office, demoted to nothing more than the ex-mayor who carried on an affair with another woman for just over a decade and all right under everyone's oblivious noses. She'd be branded a liar, a cheat, and a host of other things that made Emma's stomach twist in knots just thinking about.

There was also Neal and Daniel's family, their friends and acquaintances. Just thinking about all the people who would be affected if their affair was ever found out made her feel sick to her stomach, the guilt gnawing at her until she had to stop pacing and she moved towards the grass and felt to her knees.

How had they let it come to this? They had both been so consumed within the passion they had together that they'd forgotten just how selfish they were being carrying on with their affair for so long. She had never felt the guilt as much as she was in that very moment. She had always let her feelings cloud her mind and make one excuse after the other, always finding reasons why it was okay to be with Regina, to find those stolen moments together. Yet, everything was changing now and there was no going back to living life pretending to be completely oblivious at the best of times to the guilt that was always there.

Emma forced herself up from her knees and back into her car. She wiped at her tears and looked in the rear view mirror at the sign just behind her. With a shake of her head, she drove off, leaving Storybrooke behind and just needing to get out of town even if just for a handful of hours.

She had some serious thinking to do, but the further that she got from her hometown, the easier it began to just forget about Regina, to forget about their affair, to forget about Regina's broken marriage and her own upcoming wedding.

She didn't stop driving until she reached the next town almost forty minutes from Storybrooke. She wanted to keep driving and never turn back, running away becoming more and more appealing as she stopped at a small roadside diner and headed inside. Running away would save her from having the affair exposed and while many hearts would be broken, it wouldn't be nearly as bad as it would be if anyone found out the truth.

Emma couldn't fathom the idea of ending things with Regina and expecting them to be able to continue to be friends without the added benefits that had been there for so very long. She couldn't because she was in love with Regina and there was nothing that would make her feel otherwise, not the guilt and definitely not her upcoming wedding. If only Regina felt the same way about her, if only they were both brave enough to do the right thing and pursue a relationship with one another. It wasn't going to be easy, just as nothing in life ever was.

"What can I get you, darlin'?" The elderly waitress asked her as she held a carafe of coffee in her right hand. "Coffee?"

"Please," Emma said with a small nod. "Do you have any pie by any chance?"

"We have a peach cobbler, made fresh just this morning," the waitress replied with a toothy smile. "Would you like a slice, darlin'?"

"Sure, that'd be great."

"Anything else?"

"No, no I'm fine. Thank you."

Emma pulled out her phone and turned it on. She'd turned it off shortly after driving out of town and she wasn't surprised to find a handful of texts from her mother, Ruby, and Regina. It hadn't even been that long and already her absence from Storybrooke had been noticed. With a sigh, she text her mother back and told her she was fine and that she was just out for a drive. She turned her phone off again, not bothering to text Ruby or Regina back and smiled at the waitress when she brought over the piece of peach cobbler and set it down on the table in front of her.

After she ate the peach cobbler and had a second coffee, she drove around for a handful of hours before she headed back to Storybrooke with her head no less clear and the guilt weighing much heavily on her heart. As much as she wanted to run, to stay away, to leave forever and start over someplace new, it wasn't a feasible option and she just couldn't do that. Not to her parents, not to Neal, and definitely not to Regina.

[X]

Regina checked her phone throughout the afternoon several times, mostly in an inconspicuous way during her meetings with various people. Emma hadn't text her back once and it was very unlike her not to get back to her, if not right away at least within the hour. By the time four rolled around, Regina began to tidy up her desk and made a pile of paperwork for her assistant to file away before he too left the office for the day.

Despite having an important job to do, she couldn't keep her mind off of Emma and what had happened between them earlier in the day. It wasn't like Emma to run off, but Regina certainly couldn't blame her.

She wondered many times throughout the day when her thoughts began to wander if she had made a mistake of telling Emma of her filing for divorce before Daniel had even been served the papers. There was no telling whether he would be served the papers that very day or even the next. She was certain he hadn't because she hadn't heard from him at all since that morning before she'd left for work just before eight.

She checked her phone twice on the drive home and wasn't surprised to find Daniel's truck missing from the driveway when she arrived. She tiredly let herself in the house and climbed the stairs up to the second floor where she stripped out of her clothes and headed straight to have a shower in their en suite bathroom.

Regina had been on edge ever since Neal had nearly caught her and Emma and all it took was a few languid passes of her fingers over her clit before she felt her body craving the delicious burn of an orgasm she knew she couldn't bring upon herself in the same way them Emma always could. She tried to push all the other thoughts out of her mind as she swirled a finger over her clit and thought of only Emma in those moments before they'd nearly been caught. She thought of how incredibly beautiful she was whenever she smiled down at her. She thought of how good, how soft yet firm her body felt against her own.

She was growing close, but not quite there, still she rubbed firmly over her clit and closed her eyes, imagining Emma's fingers between her legs and her mouth sucking hard on one nipple as she held her hard up against the cool, wet tiles. When it didn't push her closer to the edge, she moved her fingers lower, sliding two in deep as she recalled a handful of times where Emma had surprised her wearing their favourite toy, a purple feeldoe they very rarely ever got the chance to use. Emma had taken her from behind the last time and the orgasm, several of them, she'd had before the water ran cold in the shower had been earth shattering. She raised her leg to the small ledge and plunged her fingers deeper, gasping as she felt her orgasm beginning to burn deep in her core.

"Regina?" Daniel called out as he entered the bathroom and she groaned loudly, thumping a hand against the tiled wall as she pulled her other hand out from between her legs. "Regina, honey?"

"What, Daniel?"

"Is everything all right?"

"Yes."

"Would you like for me to start dinner?" Daniel asked, hovering just inside the en suite bathroom and she could see him just beyond the fog of the glass. "Regina?"

"Yes, that would be lovely, Daniel."

"Or would you rather I joined you?"

"I'm nearly done," she said quickly with a dreaded panic filling her chest. While at one point in their marriage they'd had a healthy sex life and she wouldn't have thought twice about him showering with her, she couldn't even stand the thought of being naked with him, sexual in nature or not. "I took out some chicken from the freezer this morning. It's in the fridge."

"You want me to grill them?"

"Do whatever you'd like, Daniel."

He didn't say a word and she had to peer past the glass after a few minutes to confirm that he had indeed left. She finished up her shower quickly and dressed in only a pair of yoga pants and a loose fitted grey t-shirt. She towel dried her hair and left it as it was before she headed downstairs and found Daniel in the kitchen, the chicken on the counter and still in its packaging and a beer sitting in front of where he stood at the island counter.

Regina clenched her jaw as she moved around the kitchen, grabbing a pan and a pot and placing them on the counter. She grabbed the bag of potatoes from the pantry and began to peel and wash them, cutting them up in quarters before putting them in the pot.

Still, Daniel said nothing and by this point in their marriage, Regina was used to moments like this. In fact, it had been a long time before she noticed that their usual banter had fallen into silence. Once the potatoes were on the stove and the water coming to a slow boil, she started on the vegetables, placing them in the pan to roast them up in the oven. Daniel, without a single word, grabbed the chicken and headed to the back patio just off the kitchen to fire up the barbecue to grill the chicken.

It was clear that he hadn't been served his papers and she made a mental note to call Kathryn later that evening to ask her what had happened. Daniel not knowing that their divorce was imminent made the already heavy tension feel a thousand times worse than it had been in recent months.

By the time Regina settled into bed, and after a long phone call with Kathryn, she was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. She lay awake for almost an hour, checking her phone now and again in hopes that Emma had finally gotten back to her. But there was nothing and the frown just deepened even more so as did her worry.

She only fell asleep when she heard the TV on downstairs and knew that Daniel would likely fall asleep in his armchair before he even made it to bed. Sure enough, she woke up early the next morning alone in the bed and to the sound of her phone beeping as a text came through.

It wasn't from Emma, but rather from her mother asking to meet up with her for breakfast at the Mills' estate just outside of town. That was the last way she wanted to spend her morning, but ever the dutiful daughter she had been raised to be, she text her mother back and said to expect her at the house in no less than an hour. The reply that came in the seconds after made her heart drop.

 ** _Bring Daniel along as well, dear._**


	3. Part III

**Author's Notes: Shout out to Paige (pokerwithellen on twitter) for granting me permission to use her manip for the cover picture for this story! Also, who knew that a rainy Saturday would make me pump out another part to this one in less than record time? (Not holding my breath the rest of the weekend with producing over 6K in half a day, but who knows!) Do enjoy!**

* * *

It was early Thursday morning when Emma saw Regina for the first time in a couple of days. Regina showed up at the house after Emma had ignored her calls and texts just shortly after Neal had left for work, another half day for him since he had a bachelor party to attend that evening.

"Hi," Emma said evenly when she opened the door to find Regina standing on the front step.

"Hello, Emma," Regina smiled as she held out a tray that had two coffee's from Granny's and in the other hand she held up the pastry box. "Can I come in?"

"Only if there are no less than three bear claws in that box."

Regina laughed and nodded, smiling at her as Emma stepped aside to let her cross the threshold. "I was hoping to catch you before you went off to work this morning."

"Why?" Emma asked and she shut the door before following Regina into the small kitchen. "I'm not going in to work today or tomorrow, remember? Graham told me a few weeks ago to take a few days off before the wedding in case I needed it."

"Do you need it?"

"I don't know," Emma shrugged. "Everything seems to be done. No hiccups and so far no mistakes or anything like that."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

"You're still taking today and tomorrow off?" Regina inquired and Emma shrugged as she reached for the box Regina placed on the counter and grabbed one of the three bear claws that were inside.

"How often do I get time off, honestly?"

"More than most deputies in other counties and states."

"Hey, it's not my fault the crime rate in Storybrooke is the lowest in the whole state, maybe even the whole country," Emma chuckled. "Guess I should be thankful for that, huh?"

Emma had done a lot of thinking over the past couple of days, but what hurt the most was not talking to Regina or seeing her. They were friends long before their affair had started and she wanted to believe no matter what happened in the future that they would always remain friends one way or another.

Emma had almost expected Regina to close the distance between them, but Regina remained on the opposite side of the small kitchen, sipping her coffee and her eyes disapprovingly lingering on the pile of dishes in the sink. Still, she said nothing and Emma took a moment as she ate her bear claw to really look at her. Regina looked emotionally exhausted and no amount of makeup could hide the bags that had grown darker just under her eyes.

She wanted to ask her if Daniel had been served his divorce papers, but she knew that she would've heard it from Neal already if he had. Asking her didn't feel right either and she tried to be okay with the fact that she would wait for Regina to bring up the state of her divorce first.

If there was one thing Emma knew best about Regina, it was the fact that when something was troubling her, she reverted inwards and put up walls not even she could break down. She could feel the tension rolling off of Regina in waves, yet she still didn't say a word, she just finished off the bear claw and popped open the tab on her coffee and took a small sip.

"Have you gotten a call from Maurice about the flowers?" Regina asked, her gaze lingering on the wedding binder on the kitchen table. "He was supposed to have called before today."

"Have you called the shop?"

"Does it look like I've been up for very long, Regina?" Emma asked as she pointed down to the purple plaid pajama bottoms and ratty old t-shirt that once belonged to Neal. "Was barely up for five minutes before you knocked on the door. Day off, remember?"

"Then why were you up?"

Emma shrugged and took another sip of her coffee. "Heard Neal leave for work and couldn't get back to sleep."

Regina just clenched her jaw and still she said nothing, she just sipped her coffee and casually leaned up against the counter by the refrigerator. The whiney hum the old refrigerator made now and again started up and she didn't miss the grimace Regina made before she walked over to the kitchen table and sat down. She opened up the binder and flipped through a few pages before pulling out her cell phone and quickly dialled the number to the Game of Thorns to speak with Maurice about the flowers that had been ordered for the wedding ceremony and reception.

Emma found herself pacing the kitchen, sipping her coffee and eating her second bear claw while listening to Regina speak with the florist in her mayoral tone that never failed to turn her on immensely. She shook her head and dropped the half-eaten bear claw into the box before moving to fill the sink with hot water and soap, deciding that preoccupying her mind and dishes was a far better—and safer—option than taking Regina right then and there while she was making demanding orders on the phone.

Halfway through the sink full of dishes, Regina suddenly grew quiet, her phone call cut short with her threatening Maurice that if he couldn't produce what he had promised in time for Saturday, he wouldn't get another dime from anyone else in town. Emma nearly dropped the plate she was washing when she felt Regina's hands come to rest on her hips and then the press of her body against her back and the hot breath that spilled over the back of her neck.

Regina's hands slid under the hem of her loose fitting t-shirt and along her abdomen ever so slowly. Emma gasped as she grabbed for the dishtowel and dried her hands quickly before reaching back to thread her fingers through Regina's hair. From the first press of Regina's lips against her neck, she caved to her advances despite trying so hard not to. She melted into Regina and her whole body buzzed in delight at feeling her hands on her skin after two days without feeling her at all.

"When are you expecting him home?" Regina whispered into her ear, her hands sliding up over her abdomen to cup her braless breasts. "Emma?"

"Uh, this afternoon," she murmured, her breath hitching in her chest when Regina's thumbs circled over hardening nipples that felt a little sensitive. "Don't you have to go to work, Regina?"

"No."

"But—"

"As you assumed that I forgot you had the next two days off, you have forgotten that I am off as well. Last minute preparations have to be made."

"Isn't everything…done?" Emma asked as a moan slipped past her lips when Regina's right hand began to descend down her body and under the waistband of her loose fitting pajama pants with ease. "Regina…I haven't showered yet."

"So?"

Emma closed her eyes and concentrated on the feel of Regina's finger gliding through her folds and over her clit slowly yet firmly. "Fuck."

Regina ground her pelvis into her behind, clutching her close as she teased over her aching clit with one hand and the other teased her left nipple, nails scratching over it lightly just before her palm grasped her breast roughly. Emma gasped as Regina slipped her hand out of her pajama bottoms and she turned her head when Regina lifted her fingers to her lips and slowly licked over them. She made an audible pop as she pulled them free and it caused Emma's knees to buckle.

"I am going to fuck you with our favourite toy tonight, Emma," Regina whispered huskily into her ear and slipped her hand past the waistband of her pants once more. "I am going to fuck you until you beg for me to stop and to give it to you harder. Over and over again."

 _Fuck_ , Emma thought as she moaned low in her throat. It made her clit twitch just before Regina's fingers began to slick hard over it, teasing her relentlessly. Regina was thrusting her pelvis in time to the rhythm of her fingers and Emma felt her orgasm coming on quickly just thinking of Regina fucking her with their favourite toy, specifically taking her from behind.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"God yes," Emma moaned softly. "Please."

"Hmm?" Regina hummed. "Please, what?"

"You know what," Emma growled. "You're teasing me."

"You love it."

"Fuck."

"Tonight will be the last night we'll have the whole night to ourselves for a long while," Regina murmured into her ear and her fingers stilled when Emma turned to look at her and dropped her hands to place them over Regina's lightly. "I want to make the most of tonight."

"We will."

"I want you in a bed," she whispered. "It's been a long time since we've been in a bed together."

"I know. I was already planning on changing the sheets this afternoon," she replied and Regina smiled a little before leaning in to steal a small kiss, one that lingered only for a few moments before she pulled back. "Regina?"

"Hmm?"

Emma shook her head and stole one last kiss. "Never mind."

With the hand she hand over Regina's between her legs, she encouraged her to continue and when she did, she let go and grasped the edge of the counter when Regina's fingers rubbed her clit firmly without teasing her as she'd been before.

Emma widened her stance, thankful for the loose fitting pajama bottoms and she gripped the edge of the counter tighter as Regina deftly slipped two fingers inside of her hard while still subtle thrusting her pelvis against her ass. She timed each thrust to her plunging fingers that elicited a stream of breathy sighs and moans past Emma's lips she made no effort in holding back.

 _I am going to fuck you with our favourite toy tonight._

 _Over and over again._

Emma closed her eyes at the thought of Regina doing that again and in seconds she felt the ever so delicious burn of her orgasm building steadily in her core. She moved against Regina and her fingers, causing her to pick up the pace suddenly and she threw her head back on to Regina's shoulders when her orgasm thundered through her entire body, hard and fast.

Regina stilled her fingers that were buried to the hilt inside of her and the hand that was on her breast slid down to her hip and gripped it tight. Her pelvis twitches as she rode out the aftershocks of her climax and urged Regina's hand out of her pants despite how much she wanted her to keep her fingers right where they were.

"Are you going to take me from behind?" Emma asked and she turned slowly and pulled Regina flush against her body. "Or am I going to ride you until _you_ beg me to stop and ride you harder?"

Regina bit her bottom lip to stifle the moan that still escaped and Emma spun her around and pressed her hard up against the counter and captured her lips in a deep, hungry kiss she'd wanted from the moment Regina came to the door. Emma slipped her right hand between their bodies and between Regina's legs, rubbing over her and feeling the heat emanating off of her through her charcoal grey slacks she was wearing.

"Are you wet?" Emma whispered, parting from their kiss for a moment before indulging in her delectable lips and tongue once more.

"Care to find out?" Regina asked when they parted again a few minutes later and Emma eased back and her eyes flicked down to watch as Regina unbuttoned her slacks slowly.

Emma wasted no time in sliding her hand inside her slacks and was rewarded without the barrier of the fancy, expensive panties Regina was always so fond of wearing. Her fingers sank in pooling wetness between Regina's folds just as their lips met for a third time, the kiss almost desperately needy. She backed away suddenly, gathering Regina's wetness over her fingers before pulling her hand free and lifting it to her lips, mirroring Regina's earlier move and moaning as she licked her fingers clean.

It was just their luck that before Emma could continue, the unmistakable sound of the squealing brakes of her mother's Wagoneer pulling up in the driveway caused the two of them to jump apart. Regina buttoned up her slacks and grabbed a tissue to wipe at her smeared lipstick while Emma busied herself at the sink, finishing up the dishes and trying to get her breathing under control.

"Good morning, Emma," Mary Margaret said cheerfully when she entered the back door that led straight into the kitchen. "Oh, good morning, Regina."

"Morning," Emma and Regina replied in succession.

"I didn't know you were coming over this morning, Regina," Mary Margaret said as she placed a brown paper bag that Emma had no doubt contained groceries she'd mentioned the day before she'd forgotten to pick up. "I was going to make breakfast for the two of us, but there is plenty for three."

"Just like the old days, hmm?" Regina smiled and she picked up her coffee before sitting down at the table. "How are you, Mary Margaret?"

"Absolutely excited for Saturday!" She exclaimed and she walked over to Emma and hugged her tight, nearly causing Emma to drop the plate she was rinsing off into the sink. "Aren't you excited, sweetie? Your father and I were talking last night and we finally decided on a wedding gift for you and Neal."

"Oh?"

"I know we're paying for the wedding, but we wanted to do something else for the two of you and I also know that Cora and Henry have offered the use of their cabin for a week, but we feel like you two need a bit longer of a honeymoon. So," she said with a wide smile and pulled out two plane tickets from her purse. "How does ten days on the island of St. Maarten sound to you, Emma?"

"What?" Emma was floored. She hadn't expected her parents to do anything more than what they've already done, which had already been more than enough as it was. "Are you freaking serious, Mom?"

"Yes!"

"Holy shit!"

Her mother just gave her the look that she always did when she swore, but the smile on her face contradicted it completely. She hugged her mother and stared at the two plane tickets in her hand and then looked over at Regina for a split second, a second long enough to see a look of hurt flash over her rather stoic expression.

Emma shook her head and placed the tickets in the cabinet just above the noisy refrigerator. She caught her mother staring oddly at her and she panicked briefly thinking that maybe she had suspected that she might have interrupted something between her and Regina, but her thoughts reasoned with her because there was absolutely no way her mother had any suspicion of her ongoing affair with Regina at all.

"Emma?"

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Why don't you go and shower? I'll get breakfast started," Mary Margaret said with a smile. "Regina, would you like to help?"

"Of course," Regina smiled at her and then over at Emma.

"I won't be long," Emma said before dashing towards the bathroom, leaving Regina alone in the kitchen with her mother.

She shut and locked the bathroom door and frowned when she heard the laughter coming from the kitchen. Regina normally didn't get along with her mother well at all and she never quite knew why that was and the laughter she could hear was severely misleading.

Deciding not to dwell on those thoughts, she showered quickly and rushed into the bedroom to get dressed for the day. She had planned on a rather lazy day and that plan definitely wasn't changing now that Regina was there. She only hoped that her mother wouldn't stay for too long since she wanted to spend some time with Regina before the wedding because there was no telling just how much they'd be able to see each other in the weeks afterwards. Two days without seeing Regina had been hard enough as it was, even if she'd been angry with her during those two days. She didn't—couldn't—imagine what it'd be like to go a handful of weeks and just the thought made her heart feel heavy and empty all at the same time.

All she needed was for Regina to tell her she felt the same way and that she was in love with her and wanted to be with her. All she needed was for Regina to tell her to call the wedding off and she would. She'd call the wedding off in an instant if only Regina made that move and professed her love for her.

If only…

[X]

Regina's mind had been elsewhere since she'd knocked on the front door of Emma and Neal's bungalow. Her mind had been elsewhere ever since the other morning when she'd received that text from her mother to come to the house for breakfast and to bring Daniel along.

That morning had been nothing short of awkward for all of them. When they had arrived at the Mills' estate, Daniel went to meet up with her father in the stables and left Regina to deal with her mother alone.

Even thinking back to that morning, she knew she shouldn't have been the least bit surprised that her mother had found out that she'd filed for divorce before Daniel had even been served the papers. She wasn't even the least bit surprised when her mother told her she'd intercepted the papers, not to stop the divorce, but to make sure that Daniel didn't walk away with more than what he was entitled to. The prenuptial agreement they had signed many years ago was faulty, Cora had claimed, and she'd told her she had her own lawyer going over the prenup and the divorce papers before they would serve them to Daniel at a later date.

Not once did her mother ask her why, and for that Regina had been grateful for, but she had been grilled endlessly as to why she wasn't trying to make her marriage work after they'd been together for so long. She kept her answer short and as simple as she could manage without having to explain any further. She told her mother she wasn't happy and while she loved Daniel, she wasn't in love with him as a wife should love her husband.

It took some convincing on her part to make sure that her mother did not bring up the divorce with Daniel that morning. Cora was adamant to agree, but thankfully and for once in her life, she kept her word and her mouth shut during breakfast. There had been the looks, looks that Daniel nor her father seemed to notice while they ate, especially when Daniel touched her affectionately numerous of times during that hour they'd sat at the table in the dining room and ate.

It had been a rough couple of days with Emma ignoring her and her emotional state unstable. Which was why she was surprised when Mary Margaret had shown up for breakfast that morning and that she'd told her that she'd filed for divorce while Emma was in the shower. She hadn't planned on telling her at all since she knew the woman was notorious for gossip and never was able to keep a secret. She was surprised because when she told her, it made her come to the brink of tears and Mary Margaret had comforted her in the way her own mother hadn't even tried to the other morning.

"Is there someone else?" Mary Margaret asked and Regina quickly shook her head no. "Oh, I just assumed when you said you aren't happy with him anymore that maybe there was someone else."

"No, there isn't," Regina said quietly and she plated the bacon she'd been frying while Mary Margaret made up her famous omelettes. "I guess that sometimes people just fall out of love."

"You'll be okay, Regina," she said with a warm smile before she hugged her tightly, another thing her mother hadn't done when she told her. "You're a strong woman and I have no doubt that you'll bounce right back from this. Maybe not immediately since divorce can be messy in ways, but one day in the future."

"Maybe," Regina said with a tight smile. "Mary Margaret, can you do me a favour and not mention this to anyone?"

"Of course."

"Not even to David."

"I won't say a word, but," Mary Margaret paused as she flipped the omelette in the pan and held the spatula almost up to her chin. "Does Emma know?"

"I told her, yes."

"Do you think that was a good idea?" Mary Margaret asked. "I know you two have been best friends for a long time, but with the wedding coming up—"

"I—I hadn't planned on telling her," Regina stammered. "It just happened to come up the other day. I know that the last thing Emma needs is to worry about me when she should be enjoying what will be the happiest day of her life."

Saying those words left a bitter taste in her mouth, but she masked it well and didn't let her disappointment and heartbreak show at all. Mary Margaret just nodded in understanding and they finished cooking breakfast together in silence.

By the time Emma came into the kitchen with her wet hair tied back into a loose ponytail and wearing dark grey sweat pants and a white tank top that made it obvious she had skipped wearing a bra, Regina was finding it hard to keep her eyes off of her. She was grateful that Mary Margaret didn't bring up the topic of her divorce and instead decided to talk about the wedding, Neal's bachelor party that was being held that night, and the rehearsal dinner the very next night.

Regina felt like she was a million miles away when Mary Margaret finally left for work after they'd had breakfast together. Emma seemed to be just as far away, lost in her own thoughts as they went into the living room together and settled on to the couch.

She pulled a face at the few empty bottles of beer on the coffee table and when Emma noticed, she got rid of them, returning to the living room a few minutes later with a frown etched over her face that reached her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Regina asked. "Emma?"

"This is the last day we're going to have together, isn't it?"

"Emma, no—"

"You said so yourself, kind of," Emma frowned deeper. "I'm getting married in two days, Regina."

 _Don't remind me_ , Regina thought and she mirrored Emma's frown. "I don't know what to say, Emma."

"Ask me not to marry Neal."

"What?"

"Ask me to stop the wedding."

"I—I can't do that."

"Why not, Regina?"

"Because it is too late!"

"It's not," Emma countered and she grabbed on to Regina's hands before she could get off the couch. "Regina, it's not too late."

"You're getting married in two days, Emma!"

Tears filled Emma's eyes and she only just held on to Regina's hands tighter. She wanted to ask her to stop the wedding, to break things off with Neal and to be with her, but she couldn't.

"What if I don't want to go through with this?"

"Then why did you say yes when he proposed?" Regina asked. "Why did you start planning the wedding six months ago? Why are you doing this if you don't want to marry him, Emma?"

"You know why."

"No, tell me. Tell me why you are going through this if you don't want to," Regina asked and she pulled her hands free from Emma's roughly.

"Because I am in love with _you_ , Regina. I am in love with you and I want to be with you, but you don't feel the same way. I can't be with you and Neal loves me. I know it's wrong, but he loves me the way that I love you and that is better than nothing at all. If that makes me a selfish person, then so be it, but maybe I can find some kind of happiness with him because _you_ aren't willing to give it to me like I want you to."

"You are a selfish person, Emma."

"I know. Do you think I feel good about that?" Emma scoffed and when she blinked, the tears she'd been holding back started to fall. "Do you think I ever wanted to fall in love with someone I can never be with? Do you think I ever wanted to fall in love with my best friend and have an eleven year affair that means nothing more than sex and a life filled with sneaking around and too many lies to keep straight?"

"Then why do you keep doing this with me?" Regina asked and it wasn't at all what she wanted to say, but it had come out anyway. "Why, Emma?"

"Because I can't seem to tell you no. I've never been able to tell you no," she trembled and Regina stood up from the couch suddenly. "I crave your touch, Regina, I crave _you_ in ways I can't even describe."

"Emma, stop."

"You wanted to talk the other day, so talk, Regina. Tell me what you were going to tell me before I ran off on you."

Regina clenched her jaw tightly. There had been a lot of things she wanted to tell her before she'd ran off in a fit of anger and confusion. She still wasn't sure she should tell her either. She wanted to tell Emma that she wanted what she did, that she wanted to be with her, that she was so in love with her that it made her heart ache because they weren't together the way she knew they should be.

In another life, they'd be together and they wouldn't have had to endure eleven years of an affair to have what even she knew would be everything they both ever wanted. It wouldn't be perfect, no relationship ever was, and even as friends they fought and bickered like an old married couple already.

"Regina—" Emma's phone started to ring before she could say another word and she groaned loudly before grabbing her phone off the coffee table. "Yeah?" She was silent as she rose from the couch and started to pace. "Right, yeah. When can I come around and pick up the dress? Anytime? Okay, thank you."

"Your dress is ready?" Regina asked and Emma nodded. "Would you like me to come with you?"

"Yeah, uh, if you want to?" Emma shrugged. "Your dress, Ruby and Tink's are ready for pickup too. I should call them and let them know."

"You call Ruby and I'll call Thelma."

Emma laughed. "You know Tink hates being called that."

"I know," Regina winked and it felt like suddenly the tension that had been there before had all but disappeared with just that one phone call.

[X]

Emma stood in front of her dress she'd taken out of the garment bag once she'd gotten home. Regina had gone to take her own dress home, as did Ruby and Tink. It left Emma with some time alone before Neal got home and Regina returned to spend the night there with her.

She was on edge emotionally and she kept replaying her conversation with Regina before they'd be interrupted by the phone call from Maria, the seamstress that had done amazing work to make her wedding dress fit perfectly. She reached out to touch along the delicate lace along the silk and she frowned. She had fallen in love with the dress the moment she had laid her eyes on it, but it wasn't Neal she'd imagined marrying while wearing it, it had been Regina.

From the very first moment she'd tried on the dress months ago with Regina in the dressing room helping her button up the hundreds of little buttons along the back, she could only see herself marrying one person in that dress and that very person was the one who had helped her in the dress for the very first time. She remembered the look in Regina's eyes too as she stared at her in the dress in the reflection of the mirror, her hands lingering over her lower back and hips as she pulled the dress tight to reveal what it'd look like after it was hemmed and tailored to fit her slight curves.

She placed the dress back into the garment bag when she heard Neal come home. She knew that it was him because he called out for her the moment he'd walked through the door. She barely placed the dress into her half of the closet before he walked into the bedroom.

"Hey," he grinned and he held out a single red rose.

"Hey," she said and forced herself to smile back. "What's this for?"

"For my beautiful, soon-to-be wife."

"Thank you," Emma said as she took the rose from him and brought it up to her nose to take a small sniff just as Neal leaned in to kiss her on her cheek just shy of the corner of her mouth. "What time are you heading out?"

"Dan is coming around with the limo in about an hour," Neal replied and he pulled off his reflective yellow and orange work-vest and then his sweat-stained grey t-shirt. "I'm going to shower."

"Okay."

"Em, don't worry about tonight. We're just going out to drink."

"I know."

"Nothing is going to happen."

"You should get strippers," Emma said quietly and Neal raised an eyebrow. "I mean strippers are common for a bachelor party, aren't they? Almost like tradition. You should enjoy yourself tonight."

"With strippers?" Neal asked in confusion. "I don't need strippers to enjoy my bachelor party, Em. You know that."

"I know."

"I'm just going to go and shower," he said as he hooked his thumb over his shoulder.

Emma let him exit the bedroom first before she headed into the kitchen and grabbed a cold beer out of the fridge. Regina had told her she'd be there within the hour, but the hour had came and gone and she hadn't come back around. She checked her phone and there were no new messages and with a frown she took her beer out with her to sit on the shady front porch.

Neal joined her almost twenty minutes later and much like they'd been for the last couple of months, they sat in silence that was both comfortable and not. It was a few hours later when Emma saw the shiny black limo driving down the street and it came to a stop just in front of the house. Neal laughed as Daniel pushed open the back door and all but stumbled out. He walked up the front path on shaky legs and when he was just a few feet away, Emma could smell the rum on him.

"Hey," Neal said cheerfully and his smile quickly faded as Daniel muttered under his breath and moved to sit down on the steps. "Dan, buddy, you all right?"

"No."

"What's wrong?"

"Regina is divorcing me," he said with a slight slur to his voice. "Can you believe that? She filed for divorce. I got the papers served to me just after lunch by that bitch Kathryn."

"Man, I'm sorry to hear that," Neal said and he moved to sit next to his distraught friend. "Do you want to cancel tonight?"

"No," Daniel said roughly and he turned to look over at Emma. "Did you know?"

"Did I know what?" Emma asked calmly.

"That she was filing for divorce?"

"No," she lied. "I'm sorry, Daniel."

"Do you want a beer, man?" Neal asked and Daniel shook his head no. "How much have you had to drink already?"

"Not enough."

Emma knew this wasn't at all like Daniel. He did like to indulge when the four of them would go out for drinks, but she had never seen him so wrecked before in all the years she'd known him. She watched as Neal slung his arm around Daniel's shoulders and gave him a little shake.

"It'll be all right, man. I know it's rough for you right now, but things will get better one day," he said and Daniel shrugged. "You know, Em gave the okay for strippers tonight. Do you think it's too late to arrange for one?"

"Probably," Daniel replied under his breath and he turned to look back at Emma and squinted slightly. "Is there someone else?"

"What?"

"Is she seeing someone else?"

"I—I don't know, Daniel."

"Would you tell me if she was?"

Emma bit her bottom lip and nodded her head a little. Like always, the lies were piling up once again. "I'm sorry."

"Sir?" The driver of the limo inquired as he approached them. "Would you like for me to go and pick up the others and come back for you two?"

"Yeah," Daniel nodded. "Yeah, that sounds great."

"Hey," Neal said as he patted him on the shoulder. "Let's just go now, yeah? Come on, big guy, we've got a night of fun ahead of us and now it's no longer just about me. We're going to make sure you get your mind off of Regina and we're going to have one of the best nights of our lives, all right?"

Emma felt the guilt coming back, hitting her harder than it ever had before just seeing how distraught and broken Daniel was. He didn't deserve this and even though Regina claimed the divorce had nothing to do with their affair, Emma wasn't convinced at all.

She decided to stand her ground and to not give into Regina's advances when she came around later. For once she was going to say no despite already knowing how Regina planned on spending their night—at least a small part of it. She couldn't give in and she couldn't let their affair go on. They were so back and forth as it was that continuing things between them only further complicated everything in the end.

 _Oh who am I kidding? I am never going to be able to say no_ , Emma thought and she watched Neal lead Daniel down the path and into the limo. She waved goodbye to them both with a forced smile curling over her lips that quickly turned into a grimace.

Once she limo turned the corner at the end of the street, she headed inside to the bedroom and stripped the bed of the sheets and balled them up before stuffing them into the half-full hamper by the closet door. She felt like she was on autopilot while struggling with the thoughts that contradicted themselves with what she felt in her heart at the very same time.

She made the bed with soft white sheets that were freshly washed and smelled of lavender and vanilla. She skipped the duvet and folded it up neatly before placing it in the closet on the top shelf. When she went to smooth out the flat sheet on top of the bed, her stomach tumbled with a thousand butterflies as she thought of spending an entire night with Regina alone and in a bed for the first time in a very long time.

She could never say no nor could she ever pass up the opportunity to be with her when they found a stolen moment together. Regina was an addiction, her drug of choice, and one that was nothing more than a well-kept secret. No amount of guilt over what they had would truly stop her from taking what her heart and her soul desired most. Even as complicated as her feelings were for Regina, even knowing that they weren't exactly reciprocated in the ways she needed them to be, she knew that Regina cared for her and wanted her or else their affair would never had lasted near as long as it had in the long run.

An hour after Daniel had come around in the shiny black limo to pick Neal up, a knock resounded on the front door. Her breath caught in her chest when she opened the door to find Regina on the other side and holding a small overnight bag in front of her with both hands.

They were kissing before Emma could even shut the front door and it was full of heated, wanton passion as Regina cupped her face with both hands, her overnight bag instantly forgotten where she'd dropped it on the floor. Regina kissed her almost desperately and Emma moaned when her back hit the wall near the front doorway. The picture to her right nearly clattered to the floor before she gently pushed at Regina's hips and pulled apart from her lips.

"Regina—"

"Don't say a word," she whispered huskily. "Just kiss me."

Emma obliged to her request, unable to do anything else but kiss the woman she was so desperately in love with. She thought back to that morning and how she hadn't had a chance to return the favour to Regina in the kitchen before, like always, they had been interrupted. She pushed at Regina's hips once again, but neither broke apart from their kiss as they blindly began to make the short trek to the bedroom with Emma leading the way.

Regina was grasping at her clothes the instant they reached the bedroom, trying to remove them quickly as Emma stopped her each time. With a frustrated growl, Regina parted from their kiss and breathed heavily while staring at her with lust-filled eyes that looked equal parts alluring and dangerously angry.

"We don't have to rush," Emma whispered and she gently placed her hands over Regina's and guided them to rest on her hips. "We have all night."

"Yes, of course."

Emma shook her head and placed her right hand on Regina's flushed cheek out of concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yes and no."

"How can you be both?"

"When I came home," she said and she looked away when her breath hitched in her chest. "When I came home, Daniel was drinking. Heavily."

Emma didn't say a word and just watched as a hundred different emotions fluttered in her eyes. She stroked her cheek gently and was quick to wipe away the single tear that escaped from the corner of her eye.

"Kathryn served him the papers while we were out picking up our dresses."

"She did?"

"Yes."

Emma swallowed thickly and leaned in to place a small, lingering kiss to her trembling lips. "What happened, Regina?"

"He started yelling at me," she whispered faintly. "He never yells, not like that. It terrified me, but then he stopped and refused to speak with me. I was getting a bag ready for tonight and he asked me if I was seeing someone else."

"What did you tell him? You didn't—"

"No," Regina said with a shake of her head. "I didn't tell him that it was you."

"But he knows there is someone else?"

"Yes. I—I left after that. I drove around for a little while before he called me, drunk out of his mind. I tried to persuade him to stay home tonight since he obviously wasn't in any state to go out at all, but he didn't listen to me. He just demanded me to tell him who it was that I was cheating on him with and I told him—I told him that it was something I wasn't ready to tell anyone about yet."

"Regina—"

"No," she snapped and Emma could feel how tense she was growing as the seconds ticked by. "I've said more than what I wanted to say, Emma."

"Okay."

"You aren't the only one who is being selfish right now," she whispered as she leaned in to press her lips to Emma's ever so softly. "I have been so very selfish as well, maybe even more so than you have been this entire time and it has nothing to do with cheating on my husband."

Emma sucked in a breath as she watched the tears fill Regina's brown eyes quickly and she didn't drop her hand nor did she step away. Regina licked over her lips slowly when the tears finally began to fall and she leaned forward, pressing her forehead to Emma's and let out a soft sigh.

"I lied to you," she continued after what felt like an eternity had passed between them. "The reason I am divorcing him is because I am in love with you, Emma Swan. I am so deeply head over heels in love with you."


	4. Part IV

She had never been so terrified in all her life as she had been when she told Emma how she truly felt about her, but once the words had slipped out, it felt like not only her heart, but the whole world and time itself had stopped. She hadn't meant to tell her, not then at least. She wanted one last night with Emma without anything emotionally burdening either of them, but it was far too late to take back what she'd said and all the words they'd exchanged earlier in the day.

She thought back to what Emma had said earlier, about how she wanted Regina to ask her to call the wedding off, but even though she'd told her that she was in love with her, she couldn't ask her to call the wedding off, not now, not two days before and definitely not when her own marriage was in the midst of falling apart.

"You aren't going to ask me to call the wedding off, are you?" Emma murmured quietly and Regina shook her head no. "Why not?"

"Because we have both been incredibly selfish enough as it is, Emma."

"But you just told me that you're in love with me, Regina!"

"I know what I told you," Regina said and she trembled. "It's too late."

"No, no it's not."

"It is, Emma. It's too late," she repeated and she tried to swallow the lump that seemed to grow bigger by the second in her throat. "I—I don't want to spend today talking about that or thinking of that," she said and Emma nodded her head slowly in understanding. "I just want to be with you, Emma."

"This is the last time, isn't it?"

Regina couldn't give her an answer, but a part of her told her that she should be saying "yes", that this should be the last day they have together as lovers before putting an end to the whole affair. Instead of answering her, she just pulled Emma in for a deep, passionate kiss that left her wanting so much more and for moments like that to last forever.

It was so easy to become lost within one another, it always had been, and it was what had scared Regina for so many years because it made her feel like they could have something real together, something so much more than the affair that they'd been having for more than a decade.

Piece by piece, their clothes came off, and not in the desperate way they normally tore at each other when they had a chance to shed their clothes completely. Emma led Regina down on to the bed, choosing to lay on her side next to her as they continued to kiss deeply. Everything about the moment they were sharing felt far different than it ever had before, but Regina was so desperately trying not to think about that and just lose herself over and over in her lover as she always did.

She let her hands roam over the smooth expanse of Emma's back and trailed her fingertips up her side, eliciting a breathy sigh past Emma's lips and a slight shiver to run through her body. She wanted to memorize every inch of her despite the fact that she already had many times over the years. She inhaled deeply when she parted from Emma's lips and trailed her fingers up to trace along her jaw and chin with a smile.

"I have always thought you are so beautiful," Regina whispered. "Yet, every time I look at you, you always take my breath away."

"Regina…"

"I don't want to think about anything else other than you and me right now. I want to make love with you until we can't find the strength to go on. I want to sleep right here in your arms all night long. I don't want to think about the rehearsal tomorrow or your wedding on Saturday or the fact that I won't see you for several weeks."

"Then don't think about, Regina."

"Help me stop."

"Tell me how."

"Kiss me," Regina murmured, brushing her lips against Emma's lightly. "Touch me. Make love to me."

She felt Emma grin into the light kiss they shared before Emma rolled them over and the move, while it shouldn't have caught her off guard, caused her to laugh in delight at the way Emma would just take control at the drop of a hat. Regina scratched her short and well-manicured nails down Emma's back and they both moaned as Emma deftly slipped a thigh between hers.

Regina loved the feel of Emma's weight on top of her, the warmth and softness of her skin, the way they fit together almost so perfectly it hurt to imagine a life without Emma in it at all, intimately or otherwise. Regina tried to reign in her emotions and gently eased her fingers through Emma's hair and guided her down for a deep and sensual kiss.

Emma parted from the kiss a moment later with a small gasp and she smiled down at Regina before trailing her lips down her neck, pausing to suck at her pulse point on her left side before moving to the right. Her teeth scraped over her skin lightly and as she always was, she was careful not to leave a mark.

It had been so very long since Emma had left a visible mark on her skin and Regina suddenly craved that. She wanted Emma to mark her and she didn't care if it was visible or not. She was already lost in a lust-induced haze and the feel of Emma's lips upon her skin. She gently threaded her fingers in her hair and held her firm against her neck, moaning when Emma sucked harder over her pulse point and dragged her tongue across her throbbing, tender skin. She eased her hold on Emma and smiled when Emma lifted her head to look at her.

"I don't want to mark you."

"I want you to."

"Regina—"

"If not there," Regina murmured. "Elsewhere."

"Where?"

Regina smirked and Emma chuckled quietly with a small shake of her head. She leaned back, bracing herself up on one elbow while trailing her fingers across Regina's left breast, her nails lightly scratching over her semi-erect nipple.

"Here?" Emma whispered as she traced a circle at the spot just mere inches from her nipple. "Maybe a little bit lower?"

"Lower."

Emma licked over her lips before ducking her head down to teasingly lick over her nipple. Regina grabbed the pillow and placed it under her head and watched Emma as she kissed along the curve of her breast, her right hand trailing down her abdomen, stopping when she reached her navel. She shifted until she laid between Regina's legs and kissed along the center of her abdomen, her tongue flicking out to tease the sensitive skin just below her navel.

"Here?" Emma asked, her voice low and husky and it sent a delicious shiver through Regina's body. Regina bit her bottom lip and shook her head no. Emma laughed again and nipped at her skin playfully.

Regina swept her hands through Emma's hair, pulling it back just as Emma began to trail feather-light kisses down her lower abdomen, stopping short where her closely cropped strip of pubic hair began. Everything about this intimate moment was different on every level. They weren't rushing because they weren't pressed for time and the dynamic had changed with the talk they'd had beforehand. Even Emma knew it was different and Regina only sensed that because of the way her lips lingered a few seconds longer with every kiss she placed along her body.

Neither spoke another word and they didn't need to as their bodies communicated in synch with one another effortlessly. Regina spread her legs the lower Emma's lips descended and she threw her head back against the pillow hard at the first swipe of Emma's tongue along her cunt.

Emma's name fell breathlessly along her lips and her hands moved to grasp at the sheets when Emma teased the tip of her tongue over her clit. She bit her bottom lip and watched Emma rise up to her knees and use the elastic band that was around her wrist to pull back her hair into a loose ponytail. They just shared a small, knowing smile before Emma settled back down between her legs, her lips and tongue no longer teasing as she used her fingers to spread Regina's nether lips and licked over her fully.

Regina's back arched the moment Emma's tongue plunged inside of her, twisting and curling until a steady stream of moans fell past her lips in conjunction with her name. She could feel her orgasm building quickly and she clenched the sheets in her fists tighter, not wanting to tumble over the edge so soon, so quickly. Still, Emma didn't let up, but each stroke of her tongue was both teasing and firm, her fingers stroking over her sensitive flesh whenever she pulled back to take a deep breath.

She gasped when Emma plunged two fingers deep inside of her and stilled them, her orgasm just on the edge of breaking free. She gripped at the sheets hard enough to rip them, but was careful not to as she lifted her head to look down at Emma, watching her as she kissed along the inside of her right thigh.

"How about here?" Emma whispered against her skin. "Do you want me to mark you _here_ , Regina?"

"Yes."

Regina's right hand went to the knot of Emma's loose ponytail and held her against her inner thigh the moment her lips touched her skin. She cried out the moment Emma sank her teeth into her flesh, hard but not hard enough to break it and the pain caused a shockwave of pleasure to further push her closer to the very edge

She let go of the sheets with her other hand and placed it over Emma's, coaxing her to move the fingers she had buried still and deep inside of her. Emma chuckled and licked over the tender flesh she'd been biting and sucking on before she began to move her fingers, slowly out and hard in. Regina kept her hand over hers and the other clenching at the loose ponytail, only letting go of her hair when she felt Emma's lips wrap around her throbbing clit.

"Emma!" Regina cried out, both hands falling back to grip at the sheets as her back arched off the bed and her toes curled. "Fuck!"

Regina panted and moaned loudly, not bothering to hold herself back. Emma was relentless in her assault on her clit and her fingers pumped inside of her hard, fast, and deep, drawing out an intense orgasm she felt in every inch of her body all at once. Emma slowed down, her tongue laving over her swollen, throbbing bundle of nerves and her fingers slipped out ever so slowly.

Emma sucked her clit once more before moving to kiss along the mark she'd left on her inner thigh. It was just as tender as her clit and throbbed in time with her racing heart. She licked over her lips and looked down at Emma, watching her as she licked a line from her inner thigh, over her cunt and up her lower abdomen, stopping just below her navel before she pulled back and smiled up at her.

Every kiss that Emma placed along her skin brought those delectable lips closer to hers and she found herself growing impatient, her body still feeling the effects of her orgasm that still fluttered through her body in waves. Emma smiled again as she settled her body on top of Regina's and grinded her center against Regina's right thigh. She could feel how wet Emma was at the first contact and she grasped at the back of her neck to pull her in for a deep, longing kiss.

Her hand was shaking when she eased it between their bodies and slicked her fingers over Emma's wet folds. She pulled back from the kiss a little and stared into Emma's eyes and when she saw Emma glance away for a split second, she just laughed throatily and teased her fingers over her slippery clit.

"Did you—"

"Yes," Emma murmured. "When I marked you."

Regina moaned and crushed their lips back together. Emma rolled her hips down against her hand, their moans mixing together as their kiss intensified. Regina slipped a single digit inside of her, revelling in the warmth and the tightness that wrapped around her and drew her in further.

In a move that surprised her, Emma manoeuvred their bodies quickly until Regina was on top and Emma's hands were on her hips, encouraging her to grind against her cunt. Regina's hands were braced on either side of Emma and with their current position, it made it difficult to close the gap between them and kiss her. Instead, they locked eyes as Regina continued to grind against her hard and quick, the gaze between them smouldering and intense.

Emma's hands moved from her hips to grasp at her ass, pulling her harder against her. Her right hand slid along her body, their eyes not once breaking contact until Emma leaned forward just as she cupped Regina's left breast and wrapped her lips around a straining nipple. Regina threw her head back and moaned, unable to keep quiet as they normally had to, and loving the feeling of being so unrestrained with Emma for the first time in a very long time.

She refused to think that this could be the last time for a long while too. She didn't want to stop seeing her, she didn't want to lose the stolen moments they shared with one another, and she didn't want their day together to feel so final.

Shifting her thoughts from thinking of anything other than the way Emma felt beneath her, she dipped her head down just as she lifted Emma's chin, the need to kiss her suddenly overwhelming and the moment their lips touched, Regina felt a surge of warmth flow through her entire body. She lost herself in the kiss, in Emma, only breaking free with a gasp as she inhaled deeply for a much needed breath. She leaned on her left elbow and lifted a hand to trace along Emma's brow with a single finger, her lips following the trail she made, each one lingering lightly on her flushed skin.

She exhaled softly, moving to kiss Emma once more, her lips landing on Emma's bottom lip and she nibbled lightly before pressing her lips more firmly against hers. Emma moaned into her mouth and Regina felt it reverberating throughout her entire body and it was only then that she began to roll her hips again, feeling the slickness of Emma wet cunt against her own.

"Regina," Emma gasped and Regina nuzzled her nose against hers before slipping a hand between their bodies and slicked her fingers over Emma's swollen clit. She lowered herself down on to Emma's left thigh as their lips met once again in a heady, wanton kiss.

Regina teased her fingers over Emma's entrance before plunging two deep inside of her, eliciting a loud moan past Emma's lips. She could feel how close Emma was by the way her inner walls clamped tightly against her fingers and by the way her hips shook and shuddered with every hard, deep thrust she made. Emma stopped her the moment she broke away from her lips and was ready to descent down her body and she shook her head.

"Kiss me," Emma pleaded softly. "Kiss me and don't stop, Regina. Please."

She complied with Emma's plea without a second thought, silently reminding herself they had plenty of time to be with one another and that there was no need to rush, no need to devour like they were pressed for time.

Emma sucked her top lip between her own and Regina thrust her fingers harder, deeper inside of her, her own body reacting to the feel of Emma's smooth, strong thigh that she rolled her cunt over in time with her thrusting fingers. Emma placed a hand on her lower back and the other fell on the one between her legs, urging her to slow down just a little by stroking her fingers along the back of Regina's hand softly.

She drew out Emma's climax slowly, their lips parting only for mere seconds at a time. She pulled back when Emma came suddenly and she kept her fingers still and deep inside of her, her thumb circling over her clit to draw her orgasm out. Emma scratched her nails over the back of Regina's hand and up her arm slowly, stopping only when she reached the back of her neck and pulled her in for another deep, languid kiss.

Regina moved to lay at Emma's side, neither breaking away from the kiss, not even when Regina withdrew her fingers and stroked them along Emma's inner thigh. With her emotions still unstable, Regina had to fight back her tears and the rush of thoughts that came back to the front of her mind suddenly.

They lay side by side, kissing lazily while their hands roamed lightly over one another's bodies, both enjoying the post coital snuggling they very rarely got to indulge in at all. When Emma pulled back from Regina's lips, it was with a naughty smile that curled over her lips.

With a firm kiss to Regina's lips, Emma rolled over on the bed and pulled open the drawer in the nightstand. Regina propped her head up with her hand and watched as Emma pulled out one of their toys that was kept in a black suede bag. Regina immediately took it from her and pulled Emma in for another kiss, one that was rough and deep and full of promise of what was to come.

She ended up back on top of Emma and grinned salaciously as she leaned back on her haunches and pulled the purple feeldoe out of the suede bag. She ran her fingers over the girth of the silicone toy and then the base ever so slowly. While keeping eye contact with Emma, she slipped the smaller, wider end inside of her and bit back a moan as her pussy adjusted to the feel of it inside of her. Her breath caught in her chest when Emma moved to her knees and bent forward, taking the tip of the phallus between her lips and licking over the tip while tugging on it enough to make Regina feel it rub deliciously against her clit.

Regina curled a finger under Emma's chin to guide her up to her lips once more. The fell down on to the bed together with Emma beneath her and her legs spread, ready and waiting. With one hand on the back of Regina's neck, keeping her right where she was as they kissed hungrily, Regina felt her grab the silicone phallus with her other hand and guide it inside of her.

"Fuck," Emma murmured against her lips. "Regina, don't hold back."

"Don't you want me to…take you from behind?" She husked and she thrust her hips gently, pushing the feeldoe inside of her, inch by shallow inch. "I know how much you _love_ it when I do."

"Later."

Emma moved both hands to Regina's hips and forced her to bury the toy deep inside of her, causing them both to gasp out in ecstasy. Regina delivered a sweet kiss to Emma's lips before bracing her hands on the mattress and began to thrust inside of her, each one slow and deep until Emma wrapped her legs loosely around her hips and Emma's hands went to her shoulders and gripped on tight.

She was careful not to let the feeldoe slip out as her thrust grew quicker and harder and her brow furrowed with concentration as a stream of grunts and moans fell past Emma's parted, kiss swollen lips. Emma's body moved in perfect synchrony with Regina's and she sank a hand into Regina's hair to pull her back down to her lips for a needy, rough kiss they broke apart from in the seconds that followed, gasping as Regina steadily pumped in and out of her.

Emma kept her fingers tangled in her hair that was damp with perspiration and Regina didn't let up, finding a pace that had Emma practically screaming her name in between the moans that slipped past her lips. Regina pushed back until she was on her knees and she eased Emma's legs from around her hips, gripping at her thighs hard as she pressed them against the bed and continue to fuck her hard and deep.

Emma's back arched off the bed when Regina thrust particularly hard inside of her and it caused the headboard to bang loudly against the wall. With a smirk curling over her lips and encouraged by the delightfully pleasurable squeal that followed, Regina continued to fuck her just as hard, her whole body and mind swimming in the sounds coming out of Emma's mouth and the way the headboard hit the wall, and especially with the sound of how _wet_ Emma had become.

"Fuck," Emma cried. "God, Regina, don't stop!"

Regina gasped as she felt the delicious burn building deep in her core and she thrust harder and faster and deeper inside of Emma, her nails digging into the soft skin of her thighs until she let go an fell forward, her lips claiming Emma's in a rough kiss as her hips began to slow with every thrust. When the feeldoe slipped out, Emma was quick to move out from beneath her, turning over until she was on her hands and knees, her legs spread with her cunt on full display, ready and waiting for more.

Regina readjusted the appendage before kneeling behind her and she ran her hands over Emma's supple ass and licked over her lips before ducking her head down. She swiped her tongue along Emma's swollen, wet pussy, moaning at the taste of her and how hot the flesh felt against her lips and tongue.

"Regina…" Emma whimpered and she subtly pushed back against her mouth.

"Mmm," Regina murmured before wrapping her lips around her swollen clit and sucked, hard. When she let it go with an audible pop, she moved quickly to kneel behind her and guided the tip towards Emma's entrance, watching it slip inside of her with ease.

She kept a firm grip on it and began to pump inside of Emma without abandon, placing one hand on her strong, smooth back and loving the way she could feel the muscles flex and tense with every thrust. Her hand glided up the smooth expanse of Emma's back before grabbing a hold of her hair that had fallen almost free of the loose ponytail she'd tied it back into and she tugged, albeit a little playfully and was only encouraged to continue at the lascivious moan that followed.

She let go when Emma fell forward, her body almost spent as she began to let go completely and tumbled over the edge, her orgasm taking over hard and fast. Regina slowed each thrust down until she buried the appendage inside of her fully and they both fell to the bed together. Regina's heart was racing hard and she could feel how hard Emma's was racing as well as she lay on her back and closed her eyes, revelling in the moment that lingered between them.

Regina relaxed as she stroked along Emma's right arm and she felt the feeldoe slip out from inside of her slowly. She gasped and sank her teeth gently into Emma's shoulder before laving over the skin with the flat of her tongue.

After several long moments, they both moved to lay at each other's side and Regina watched as Emma reached between her own legs to pull the feeldoe free. Emma lifted it to Regina's lips and she willingly licked it clean, enjoying the tangy taste of Emma's wetness that coated it completely.

"Fuck," Emma moaned, pulling the toy away from Regina and tossed it haphazardly to the side. "Come here."

"Emma—"

"I love it when you get rough," she murmured against Regina's lips. "You haven't done that for a while."

"We haven't exactly found time to have a little bit of…fun, have we?"

"No," Emma replied with a frown. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever for?"

"For us not having time to be together. We've been together for eleven years," Emma continued and Regina inhaled sharply, not wanting to dive back into the emotional territory they had been in before. "We need to make more time to be together, don't we?"

"Yes."

"We'll figure it out, won't we, Regina?"

"Yes, darling, we always do."

"We do," Emma replied and the frown finally slipped away as a shy, adorable smile took its place. "I am in the mood for a drink, but I don't think I can actually move right now. Do you think you can—"

"Of course," Regina said with a nod. "Wine?"

"Yeah," Emma said, her eyes sliding shut. "There is a bottle of white in the fridge. Red too, if you prefer that instead."

"Rest," Regina whispered and she placed a kiss on Emma's forehead and then one to each of her closed eyelids. "I'll be right back, my love."

Regina slipped off the bed and didn't bother to slip on Emma's robe that hung on the back of the bedroom door. She padded her way out of the bedroom and into the kitchen stark naked and without a single care in the world. She ran her fingers through her hair several times before retrieving two stemless wine glasses out of the cupboard and then the bottle of white wine that sat on the shelf beside a bottle of merlot in the refrigerator.

She searched through the drawers for the corkscrew, but it wasn't in its usual place. She searched through the kitchen quickly, the house a little cool and causing her to shiver in her undressed state. She found the corkscrew behind the coffee maker and muttered under her breath about the carelessness of Emma not putting things away where they belonged. She just about had the cork out of the bottle when she heard footsteps approaching the kitchen.

"Emma, darling, go back to bed. I'll be right there."

"Regina?" Ruby gasped and Regina spun around with wide eyes.

"Ruby?"

"What the hell are you doing? Why are you _naked_ in Emma's house?"

"I'd ask you the same thing! What the hell are _you_ doing here?" Regina screeched and she grabbed the apron that hung on the wall near where she was standing and tried in vain to cover her naked body. "Ruby!"

"What?" Ruby asked. "What the hell are you two doing?"

"Excuse me?"

"You and Emma," Ruby said pointedly. "And I'm going to guess this isn't the first time either, is it?"

Regina knew there was absolutely no point in denying it, especially not when Ruby had caught her naked in Emma's kitchen. She sighed and reached for the bottle of wine and jerkily poured herself a glass while holding the apron to her body. She downed the glass quickly before moving to pour herself another.

"Regina?"

"What, Ruby? What do you want me to say?"

Ruby crossed her arms across her chest and frowned. "How about the truth?"

"How about a glass of wine?" Regina offered and it only caused Ruby to laugh quietly and nod her head. "I don't know what to tell you, Ruby. I—"

"Are you and Emma having an affair?"

"Yes."

[X]

Emma groaned quietly and she sat up slowly. Her whole body was aching with delicious pleasure and she was growing impatient for Regina to return to the bedroom with the wine. She stretched out once she stood up from the bed and she walked towards the slightly ajar bedroom door.

The second she heard Ruby's voice coming from the kitchen she froze in place just inside the doorway. She grabbed her robe from the back of the door and slipped it on, scared but also intrigued by the faint conversation she could hear coming from the kitchen between Ruby and Regina.

A part of Emma wanted to shut herself in the bedroom, lock the door and will for this whole situation that had suddenly turned her day around to go away. That wasn't going to happen and there was no way that Ruby was going to just up and leave without any answers as to why Regina was naked in her kitchen. She bit her bottom lip that was trembling just as much as her whole body was and she quietly made her way towards the kitchen, stopping short and out of sight.

"Are you and Emma having an affair?"

Emma held her breath when she heard Regina say yes. She was about to launch into a full-blown panic attack before she heard Ruby start to laugh.

"Tink definitely owes me fifty bucks now!" Ruby said and Emma's eyes went wide in surprise. "Oh come on, Regina, I have known you both for a long time and I can see the way you two look at each other."

Regina was silent and Emma moved to lean against the door frame, still out of sight from the two of them in the kitchen. Emma shakily pushed herself off the frame and entered the kitchen, sheepishly trying to hide behind the hair that had fallen over her red face.

"What are you doing here, Ruby?" Emma asked as calmly as she could manage.

"Emma!" Ruby spun around to look at her and Emma felt her face flush hotter at the way Ruby was almost leering at her. "Is it true?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"Emma," Regina said quietly from where she stood on the other side of the kitchen and hiding her naked body behind an apron. "There is no sense in lying now, is there? Ruby obviously caught us red-handed."

"So," Ruby said slowly. "How long has this been going on?"

"Long enough," Emma said under her breath before making her way over to the bottle of wine on the counter and she poured herself a glass. She looked at Regina with wide eyes and gulped hard before downing her glass of wine and turning to look back at Ruby. "You aren't going to tell anyone, are you?"

"No," Ruby said. "Aside from Tink, because she owes me fifty—"

"You bet on whether we were having an affair with each other?" Emma asked incredulously and she didn't calm down, not even when Regina reached out to place a hand on her lower back. "Are you fucking kidding me, Ruby?"

"Not at all," she replied calmly. "Come on, Emma, how long did you think you two were going to get away with this?"

"We managed just fine for the last eleven years."

"Holy shit!" Ruby yelled. "Eleven years?"

"Oh god," Emma groaned and Regina just continued to rub over her lower back.

"So, what's the deal here then?" Ruby pressed on. "Are you two like secretly in love with each other or what?"

"Yes," Regina answered and it took Emma by surprise as much as it did with Ruby. "It is complicated," she continued. "And probably something that we should discuss when we're adequately dressed for a conversation of this magnitude."

"I'll just wait out in the living room. Do you two want me to make you a drink while I wait?"

"Something strong, please," Emma muttered under her breath while Regina just gave Ruby a curt nod in reply. The moment Ruby walked out of the kitchen, Emma turned to Regina in a panic. "Regina! She just caught us! What the hell are we going to do? And what the hell is she doing here?"

"I don't know why she is here, Emma, but we'll find out, and we will deal with this as best as we can, all right?"

"Deal with this?" Emma groaned and Regina just wrapped her arms around her tightly. "Regina, she _knows_ we're having an affair."

"Yes, darling, I know. I _was_ here for the whole being caught naked in your kitchen moment, after all."

"What are we going to do?"

"First," Regina said before she placed a soft kiss to Emma's lips and wiped away the tears that had begun to fall down her cheeks. "We are going to get dressed and then we are going to have a nice, strong drink and then, then we are going to talk to Ruby about this."

"It's too late to convince her we're not having an affair, isn't it?"

"Yes, unfortunately."

"Oh my god, Regina, she knew we were having an affair before we fucking admitted it to her!"

"Emma—"

"Shit!" Emma was panicking and Regina continued to calmly try to keep her calm to no avail. "If Ruby knows, who else knows?"

"Aside from Thelma?"

"God, you know she hates being called that," Emma said with a soft laugh and one that disappeared immediately. "Regina, seriously, who else knows about us?"

"I don't know, darling. Like you, I was blissfully unaware of anyone even suspecting that we were having an affair until Ruby rudely allowed herself to enter your home unannounced."

Emma's tears continued to fall and she let them while she buried her face into Regina's neck and revelled in the feel of her arms around her and Regina's hands gently rubbing over her back. She felt mortified and embarrassed and terrified about what would happen from there on out. That guilty feeling hit her like a brick wall and she shivered while not letting go of the tight hold she had on Regina.

After a few moments, Emma pulled apart from Regina and wiped at her own tears. This was her own doing and it was her fault they had been caught. They had been careless in thinking that they had the day all to themselves when she should've known to expect Ruby to show up out of the blue and unannounced. She just quickly led Regina back into the bedroom where they gathered their clothes and dressed in relatively heavy silence. Emma wrapped her arms around herself and watched Regina try to straighten the sheets on the bed for a few seconds before she walked up behind her to stop her.

"Emma," Regina sighed softly and she turned to look at her. "It's going to be okay. You know that, don't you?"

"Is it?" Emma asked flatly. "How is it going to be okay, Regina? I admitted to Ruby we've been having an affair for eleven years!"

"I know and we'll deal with this together, all right?"

"How?"

"I am not certain yet," Regina sighed. "But we will figure it out, my love."

"Don't."

"Don't?"

"Don't call me that," Emma muttered and she took a step back from her. "Don't call me any of those little names you do when we're alone together. Not in front of her."

Regina paled a little but nodded her head before she walked over to the bedroom door. "Shall we get this over with?"

"Do we have a choice?"

"No," Regina frowned. "We don't, unfortunately."

"What do we say?"

"The truth?" Regina offered.

"Regina—"

"Look," she stopped her from continuing and placed her hands on Emma's shoulders. "Ruby is our friend and if anything, she'll understand, maybe not entirely, but just enough to know better than to run her mouth off to anyone outside of the three of us. Including confronting Thelma about the money she owes her."

Emma frowned deeply. "How can you be so sure?"

"I'm not, Emma. Not about this. Not about her knowing about us. I'm not sure about anything anymore. I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"For waiting for so long to tell you how I truly feel about you and now, it is too late," she replied softly. "It's too late."

"Regina, it's not—"

"It is."

Emma frowned and lifted her hands to push back Regina's hair away from her watery eyes. "No," she murmured. "It doesn't have to be."

"You're getting married on Saturday."

"Then ask me to call the wedding off, Regina."

"I—I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because, Emma, I can't let you do that to him," she replied. "And now that Ruby knows—"

"Regina, ask me—no, _tell_ me to call the wedding off. It is not too late for us. We can still make this work between us. I don't have to marry him. It is _not_ too late! It can't be!"

"It is. You already said yes when he asked you to marry him. You've planned your wedding. Everything is booked and paid for and the guests have all RSVP'd. It's too late to ask you to not marry him and to be with me instead."

"Regina," Emma tried, the desperation clear in her voice. "Please. It's not too late. I—I should've asked you not to marry Daniel when you did, but I was too much of a coward and I—I thought all we had was—"

"I wouldn't have called it off, not then. We were young and stupid and I believed I was in love with him just as I believed it was impossible and incredibly selfish to be in love with more than one person at a time."

Regina's blunt honesty hit her hard and she backed away from her with a hard shake of her head. "I can't believe you, Regina. I would drop everything just to be with _you_ and you won't even ask me to do that. Do you honestly love me?"

"I do, Emma."

"Then ask me not to marry Neal!"

"No."

"Then get out of my goddamn house," Emma said lowly as she yanked open the bedroom door. "Get out."

"Emma—"

"Go!" She screamed at her and she grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her out of the bedroom. "Just go, Regina. Please."

She let go of Regina's arm with a small gasp and watched the flood of tears that fell from her eyes before she turned and left without another word and without looking back. The sound of the door slamming broke Emma's heart into pieces and it wasn't until she felt Ruby's arms around her that she let it all go completely.

"Come on," Ruby urged gently. "Let's go have a drink, Em."


	5. Part V

Emma went through the motions on Friday afternoon, feeling as if she were functioning on autopilot throughout the rehearsal and the dinner that followed. Regina was there, but she refused to speak with her at all. They barely made eye contact and when they did speak, Regina's tone was clipped and cold. The only other person who seemed to notice it had been Ruby, and thankfully she never said a word until she and Emma went to Ruby's apartment for the night.

After Ruby had caught her and Regina red-handed, and after Regina had left when Emma had told her to, the two of them had a long talk too many drinks. Even Ruby told her to call the wedding off if she truly wanted to be with Regina, but after Emma had tried to explain why she wanted Regina to tell her to call the wedding off, Ruby only then began to understand.

Emma's affair with Regina had evolved over the years, more so in the last week than anything else. As easy as it'd be for her to call off the wedding herself, she also wanted Regina to give her that validation that she wanted her to call the wedding off so that they could finally be together. While Emma knew she was being a coward, Regina was pulling the very same move on her at the same time. Even Ruby called her out on that, at first not understanding why she even needed that validation from Regina nor did she understand why she was even going through with the wedding at all when it was clear that she was in love with Regina in ways she could never love Neal.

Saturday morning, unfortunately, came far too quickly and Emma found herself whisked away to her parents' apartment for breakfast before they would begin to get ready. Emma still felt as if she was still on autopilot and she was certain that everyone that had shown up at the loft was completely aware of it too.

The only one noticeably missing was Regina and a single text, sent to her mother and not to her, explained that she had woken up late and was going to meet them at the church just before eleven after she did a few last minute errands.

"Sweetie, are you all right?" Mary Margaret asked quietly while Ruby and Tink cleared away the dishes from the table. "Emma?"

"Hmm?" Emma looked over at her mother and nodded. "I'm fine, Mom. I'm just a little tired, that's all."

Mary Margaret frowned and placed a hand over her forehead. "Are you sure, sweetie? Today is a big day for you. Aren't you excited? Happy?"

"Of course I am," Emma said and she managed to force out a smile that her mother—thankfully—bought as genuine. "I'm just a little tired, Mom. I'll be okay. I just need some more coffee, that's all."

Her mother just smiled and placed a kiss to the top of her head before running off up the stairs to retrieve their dresses. Emma moved over to the couch and frowned as she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs tightly. She had spent all night almost wide awake, thinking about Regina, about Neal, about calling off the wedding herself. But, what was she going to tell Neal to help him understand not only why she'd been having an affair, why she'd been lying to him the whole time they'd been together?

"Hey," Ruby said as she sat down next to her. "You look like you need to talk. Penny for your thoughts, Em?"

"I'm making a big mistake, aren't I?" Emma whispered and she glanced over at her mother and Tink just in the kitchen and organizing the bags of dressed that had just been brought down. "I shouldn't be doing this, Ruby. I shouldn't be marrying Neal today."

"It's not too late," Ruby replied. "There are still a few hours before the wedding."

"What do I even tell him? He's a good guy, Ruby. He doesn't deserve any of this. It's going to break his heart when he finds out."

"Better to hear it from you than someone else, don't you think? Look," Ruby said quietly and she wrapped an arm around Emma. "We talked about this the other night and you know I'm going to support you in whatever decision that you do make, okay, but what you need to do is the right thing right now, Em."

"And that's calling the wedding off, isn't it?"

"Just like I told you the other night, this is your call. Even Regina knows that and that's why she didn't tell you to call the wedding off. Don't expect her to take that kind of burden, not when this is yours to deal with alone."

"Girls, shall we get ready?" Mary Margaret called out and Ruby nodded her head slowly and smiled back at her. "Emma, honey? Why don't you jump in the shower and Ruby, maybe you can start on Tink's hair while I try to find out what Regina plans on doing about her own hair and makeup this morning."

"I showered earlier," Emma muttered under her breath. "Like way earlier. I couldn't sleep so…"

"Oh, well, that gives us a little bit of extra time this morning, doesn't it?"

Emma normally was used to her mother being bright and bubbly at all hours of the day, but that morning she was not in the mood to deal with her or anyone else. She grabbed her phone and headed upstairs, sitting down heavily on the bed she'd spent her whole life sleeping in before she and Neal had moved in together. She scrolled through her contacts in her phone and stopped on his name.

She shook her head and went down to Regina's a few names down and hit the call button. Of course it shouldn't have surprised her or upset her that the call went straight through to her voicemail, just as it had the day before and all night every time she called. Unlike the few voicemails she'd left her throughout the night, she hung up and tossed the phone on the neatly made bed.

She fought back her tears as she laid back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. She didn't know what to do because nothing felt like it was the right thing. She had barely even spoken with Neal the day before during the rehearsal and the dinner that had followed. He didn't deserve any of this, but she didn't want to break his heart, not like that.

With a whimper, she rolled over on the bed and grabbed the pillow to bury her face in it, to muffle the sobs that escaped when the tears began to flow freely. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she barely flinched at the hand that suddenly fell over her upper back and the soft kiss to the back of her head that only caused the tears to fall harder and faster.

"Emma, what's wrong, sweetie?"

"I can't do this, Mom," she muttered into the pillow and clutched it harder, trying to still the tears no to avail. "I can't do this."

"Why not? Are you getting cold feet?"

"No."

"Are you doubting that you and Neal are going to be happy after you get married?"

"Mom—"

"Are you thinking about the what ifs?" Her mother continued and Emma turned her head on the pillow to look at her. "Are you thinking about Regina and the what ifs with her?"

"Mom, I don't know what—"

"Emma," she sighed heavily. "It's time to stop lying."

"I—"

"And to stop being so selfish," she said and Emma watched her mother wipe away at her tears quickly. "Emma, I know you are in love with Regina," she said softly. "You've been in love with her for a very long time now. I know that you two have been…having an affair. I also know that you have become so very uncertain about marrying Neal. More so in the last couple of weeks."

"Mom, I—"

"I don't know how long this has been going on for," she said and Emma finally sat up and wiped at her cheeks while the tears continued to fall. "I don't know what you're going through right now either, but today should be the happiest day of your life and you're miserable."

Emma frowned and she watched as her mother rose from the edge of the bed, but not before she picked up her cell phone and held it out towards her.

"Mom," Emma murmured tearfully. "I don't know what to do."

"What does your heart tell you?"

"To call off the wedding," Emma whispered and she took the phone from her mother's shaking hand. "Mom, I don't want to hurt him."

"You'll hurt him more if you go through with this and marry him," Mary Margaret replied and she wiped away her own tears. "All I want is for you to be happy, Emma, and it is clearly not with Neal."

"What if it isn't with Regina either?"

"Then it's not," she said and she wrapped her arms tightly around her. "I know you love Neal, but not the way a woman should love her soon-to-be husband. I am sure that if you explain to him, he'll understand."

"Will he?" Emma scoffed. "Will he really understand when I tell him why I don't want to marry him or when I tell him why I waited until the very last minute?"

"Talk to him, explain as best as you can. He'll be angry and heartbroken, but he loves you, Emma, and if this is what you choose, he'll understand and accept it because of how deep his love runs for you."

"I shouldn't call him, I should go and talk to him, face to face."

"Yes."

"Mom, what about—"

"The wedding? The guests? I'll give Cora a call and we'll deal with it. Although, it is too late to cancel the reception since Granny has spent the last few days preparing the food."

Emma frowned deeply and closed her eyes when her mother placed a soft kiss to her forehead. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"It's okay," she replied with a small smile. "Go and talk to Neal and let us deal with everything else, all right? He should already be at the church."

Emma nodded and got up from the bed and slipped her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. She hugged her mother tightly before grabbing her keys and rushed out of the apartment, ignoring Ruby and Tink calling out for her on the way out. She ran down the stairs and out of the building to where she parked the Bug beside her mother's Wagoneer.

Her heart was racing and she was fraught with worry, with fear, with guilt, and it was all so very overwhelming. The drive to the church was quick and she parked around the back, hoping to avoid running into some of the guests who had arrived early. She ran into the back doors of the church and to the groom's room, running into Daniel in the hallway.

"Emma?" Daniel looked at her in confusion. "What are you doing here? You aren't supposed to be here for another hour, aren't you?"

"Where's Neal?"

"He's getting ready," Daniel said as he hooked a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the groom's room. "You do know its tradition for the bride and groom not to see each other before the wedding, right?"

"There isn't going to be a wedding, Daniel," Emma said before she walked past him and into the room without knocking. "Neal?"

"Em?" Neal spun around, already dressed in his tuxedo. "Em, what are you doing here? Are you all right?"

"No," Emma said with a shake of her head and she shut the door. "Neal, there is something I need to talk to you about and I—I don't even know where to start."

Neal frowned deeply before he sat down on the white sofa and she moved to sit down next to him. "Em, what's going on? This can't wait until later?"

"No, no it can't wait until later."

Neal ran a hand over his perfectly gelled hair, his frown deepening when Emma's tears began to fall. She pulled back when he reached out for her and she shook her head and took a deep breath while staring down at her hands folded in her lap. Her heart was thundering in her chest and she couldn't find the right words because there were no right words to say in a situation like that.

"Neal, I love you, I do, and I thought I wanted to go through with this and marry you, but I—I can't. I can't marry you today."

"Em, what? Did something happen? I don't understand. You can't marry me today? Do you want to postpone the wedding?"

"No. I don't want to postpone the wedding."

"Em," Neal said shakily and she finally lifted her head to look over at him. "Talk to me. Why can't you marry me today?"

"I love you, but I'm not in love with you."

"I see."

"I never wanted to hurt you."

"It's okay, Em. I understand."

"No," she shook her head and wiped at her tears. "You don't understand, Neal."

"There is someone else," he replied after a moment, his own tears filling his eyes and spilling over. "Is it someone I know?"

"Yes. Look, I'm so sorry. I never meant—"

"Who is he?"

"What?" Emma asked, watching Neal as he rose from the couch with his fists balled tightly at his side. "Neal, maybe right now isn't the time to tell you—"

"Who the hell is he? It's not that asshole Killian, is it?" Neal asked angrily.

"Are you kidding me?" Emma laughed incredulously. "No! God, no, it's not him. It's not a guy at all. It's a woman."

Neal blinked a couple of times with his mouth agape. "What? A woman? You're leaving me for a woman?"

"Yes, no—shit, I don't know! It's complicated right now, Neal, and I know I should have told you long before we even started planning our wedding. I've been selfish and a coward. You don't deserve this and I—I never meant to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you, I swear."

"It's Regina, isn't it?" Neal asked as he began pacing the floor in front of her. "It is her, isn't it?"

"Neal—"

"That's why she and Daniel are getting a divorce, isn't it? Because you two have been what, having an affair?" Neil scoffed and he unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt. "How long has this been going on?"

"Neal, maybe right now is not the time to tell you—"

"How long?"

"Long before we started dating," Emma whispered and Neal turned and punched the wall, hard. "Neal, I should have told you, I should have been honest with you, but I wasn't. I wasn't and I don't know why."

"How long?" Neal repeated as he stared down at his bloody knuckles that were covered in the plaster from the hole he punched in the wall. "How long, Emma?"

"Since we were in high school. It wasn't even serious. We were just fooling around, but—but we—"

"You fell in love with each other, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Wow," Neal exhaled sharply. "I don't know what to say, Em."

"I'm sorry."

"You've…been with her for more than ten years?" Neal shook his head and wiped at his tears that streamed down her cheeks. "I should be surprised, but I'm not. I knew you two were close, but I—I didn't think you were—"

"Neal, I'm sorry."

"Stop," he said shakily as he held up a hand. "Stop apologizing, Em. I get that you're sorry. You don't need to say it again."

Emma could hardly contain the guilt she was feeling, but in a small way, the weight on her shoulders had been lifted a little bit, but even then she knew it would be a very long time before that feeling passed completely. Emma stood up and the two met halfway, their arms wrapping around one another tightly as the tears continued to fall from both of their eyes. It was a long while before either of them parted and when Emma went to pull off her engagement ring, Neal shook his head no and placed his hand over hers.

"Keep it," he said softly. "It's yours."

"I—I can't keep this, Neal," she said and she slipped it off and held open his hand and placed it into his palm. "It's your mother's ring. It needs to stay in your family. Maybe one day you'll find someone who deserves this more than me."

"Maybe," he shrugged and closed his hand around the ring. "So, what are you waiting for, Em?"

"What?"

"Go find her," he said with a small smile. "Go find her and tell her that you can be with her now."

"Neal—"

"That's why you're calling the wedding off and we're breaking up, isn't it? So that you and Regina can be together?"

"I—I don't know, Neal. It's complicated."

"Then go and make it uncomplicated."

"Neal—"

"Emma, don't," he said quickly. "We'll get through this as friends, but I'll need some time before that happens. It hurts. A lot, but it's better this way. I'll deal with things here, okay? Don't worry about that."

"What are you going to say to everyone?"

"I'll figure it out, now go," he said and urged her towards the door. "Go find her, Em."

Emma hugged him tightly and placed a soft kiss to his cheek. "Thank you, Neal."

"Whatever for?"

"For understanding," she whispered. "I truly am sorry."

"I know."

Emma pulled back and offered a small smile before she quickly made her way out of the church and back to her car. She tried calling Regina, but after the phone didn't ring, it just went straight to her voicemail. She groaned in frustration before driving over to Regina's house in hopes that she was still at home, but her car wasn't in the driveway when she got there and she hit the steering wheel over and over again.

She backed out of the driveway and hit the gas, not knowing where she was going or where Regina was, she just knew she had to find her and fast.

[X]

Regina stared at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes red-rimmed from the endless tears that had been falling since late the night before. She was exhausted, not having slept because all she could think about was Emma and the very fact that she was going to marry Neal.

She copped out of joining the others at Emma's parents' loft for breakfast, as the plan had been for weeks already. She called Mary Margaret to explain she'd overslept and had some errands to run, but would meet them at the church. It was a lie, albeit a rather big one, but Mary Margaret hadn't questioned it and told her she understood and would pass the message along to Emma.

Every time Emma had called or text her, she didn't answer, too afraid of what would be said between the two of them if she did. Emma had called almost thirty times in the last eighteen hours and it only caused her guilt to grow to the point where it was unbearable.

Regina took a few deep breaths and washed her face with cold water and put eye drops in her eyes to take away most of the redness. Her hands were shaking, but she managed to get her makeup on to look semi-presentable and when she finished with her lipstick, her phone began to ring. It was Emma, again, and like all the other times, she didn't answer and hit ignore, sending the call straight to her voicemail where she knew there were plenty of messages left from Emma, messages she had yet to listen to.

Her dress was with the others so she couldn't finish getting ready until she arrived at the church. She chose instead to dress in a pair of dark grey yoga pants and a white t-shirt that Emma had left behind at one point or another. Even though it'd been washed numerous times over the years, Emma scent still just faintly lingered in the fabric. It took all she had not to let the tears spring to her eyes once more and after she headed downstairs to grab her shoes out of the front hall closet and find her small clutch, her phone began to ring again, but it wasn't Emma, it was Mary Margaret.

"Hello?"

 _"_ _Hello, Regina,"_ Mary Margaret said quietly. _"I thought I'd call you to tell you there has been some changes."_

"Changes?" Regina asked. "What kind of changes?"

 _"_ _Emma just left to talk to Neal. She's calling the wedding off."_

Regina blinked several times and yet the tears fell despite her trying not to let them fall at all. Had Emma told her mother that they'd been having an affair and that she didn't want to marry Neal because she was in love with her and not him? Did she cook up some tall-tale about cold feet and making a mistake in marrying him before she was ready to? Regina cleared her throat.

"What, did you just say that Emma is calling the wedding off?"

 _"_ _Yes,"_ Mary Margaret replied. _"She told me, Regina. She told me about your affair. Actually, can I be honest with you? I already had my suspicions that there was something going on between you two for quite some time now. I am not the only one who has suspected this. Your mother raised the concern with me a few years ago."_

Regina felt like the floor was about to drop away from her at any given moment. Her head was spinning and her vision was blurring, not just from the tears that filled her eyes as rapidly as they fell.

"M—my mother knows?" Regina stammered. "Mary Margaret, it just happened. I don't know how to explain it but it—"

 _"_ _You don't need to explain anything to me, sweetie. As wrong as it was for you two to carry out an affair for however long it has been going on for now, I do understand. I was young once. I know that sometimes you fall in love with someone when you least expect it. I hardly think anyone is going to be surprised if they find out you two are together."_

Regina was rendered speechless and she wasn't sure what to say. The last thing she ever expected was for Emma's mother to have known about their affair, for quite some time, and having not said a word about it the whole time she knew. Her acceptance was a little bit of a surprise too, but for as long as she'd known the woman, she knew that her heart was so open and so quick to forgive when it came to the ones that she loved.

 _"Emma is probably at the church by now,"_ Mary Margaret continued. _"I am going to call your mother and we're going to take care of things on this end. You know what you need to do now, don't you, sweetie?_ "

"I need to go talk to her," Regina said softly. "I—I don't know what to say, Mary Margaret, but thank you for understanding."

Regina hung up and left her heels and her clutch by the door, grabbing her keys just before she ran out the door and got in her car. The drive to the church felt like it took ages longer than it actually did, but when she got there, she saw Neal sitting on the front steps in his tuxedo, the crisp white shirt partially unbuttoned and a beer in his hand. She parked beside the curb and got out, approaching him slowly since she wasn't sure how he was going to react, but there was one thing for certain from the way his red-rimmed eyes matched her own. He knew. Emma had came and gone and it was over.

Regina took a few deep breaths and stood just a few feet away from him. He glanced up at her and scoffed before taking a rather large swig of his beer. He placed the bottle down on the step and exhaled slowly.

"She already left," Neal said. "To find you."

"Neal, I am so sorry—"

"Don't. Em apologized enough as it is. Don't want to hear it from you either."

Regina just crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. "I—I don't know what to say, Neal, other than to apologize to you."

"Why? Because you two were having an affair for the last decade?" Neal asked and she felt the lump rising in her throat when she saw the fire in his eyes. "It isn't your fault you fell in love. Can't blame you either. Em's a great girl."

"She is."

"Does Dan know?"

"No," Regina shook her head. "He doesn't know and that isn't why we're getting a divorce. Not entirely."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"Yes, I am, but maybe not right now. You aren't—"

"No," Neal said quietly. "I won't tell him. That's not up to me. That's on you."

Regina nodded and she noticed a few people lingering in the parking lot nearby. Guests. "Do they know the wedding's been called off?"

"Yeah, just broke the news. Was hoping Em would've stuck around to break it with me, but…I told her to go find you."

Regina pulled her phone out of her pants pocket and groaned when it wouldn't turn on. The battery was dead and that was the very last thing she needed right then. "Neal, I know you don't want me to apologize, but I want to. I truly am sorry this happened. We—we didn't mean to hurt anyone."

"I know, Regina. I'm upset and heartbroken, but believe me, I understand and I'm not sure why. Pretty sure I broke one of my knuckles punching the wall after Em told me there was someone else."

"Did she tell you it was me?"

"No, I knew," he replied sadly. "I think I've always known. You two have always been a little too close to just be friends, you know?" He sighed and picked up his bottle of beer. "Just so we can keep the story straight, I told the guests that we mutually decided to call the wedding off. They don't need any more of an explanation than that."

"Oh."

"Go, Regina. She's probably just getting to your place now."

"Neal—"

"I know," he sighed before offering her a small, sad smile. "Go. There's nothing stopping you two from being together now."

"I'm afraid it's a little more complicated than that."

Neal chuckled quietly. "That's what she said, but knowing you two, you'll work it out. Complicated seems to work for you two."

Regina just nodded before taking a few steps back, the whole moment feeling so very surreal to her because of Neal's unexpected reaction to everything. He truly was one of the good guys and she hated seeing how hurt he was, but neither of them could take back all the years they'd been together nor could they force themselves to fall out of love with one another.

Regina turned on her heels and nearly ran back to her car. She drove back to the house, missing two stop signs on the way there. Just as she turned the corner on to Mifflin Street, she saw a flash of yellow turn the corner at the far end of the street. She slid the gear into park and fumbled in the glove box for her phone charger. Twice she dropped her phone before she had it plugged in and she turned it on, the wait for it to boot up seeming to take forever.

Emma had literally just called her not even three minutes before she'd pulled up in front of the house. She fumbled with the phone and called her back before pulling away from the curb and heading in the same direction she'd seen her car turn at the corner.

She hung up and called Emma back, hoping this time she'd answer her phone and she turned at the corner, frowning deeply when she didn't see Emma's car anywhere. As she approached Main Street, she stopped at the corner and looked down the street. While it was busy, Emma's car normally stood out and she couldn't see it anywhere. She went straight instead, taking a turn that lead to the harbour and she came to a stop at the dead end street by the beach.

Emma's car was parked in the lot on the other side of the beach and Regina scrambled to get out of her car. She slipped off her running shoes and started jogging down the beach, but as soon as she got closer to Emma's car, she realized she wasn't in it. She stopped and looked down the nearly deserted beach. On the other side of the parking lot where the rock jetty was, she saw Emma sitting on one of the rocks about thirty feet from shore.

"Emma!"

She continued to run down the beach towards the jetty and called out Emma's name once more, finally capturing her attention just before she reached the rocks. Breathing heavily, she smiled at her and the adorable look of confusion on her face.

"Emma, what are you doing out there?"

"Regina?"

Wishing she hadn't dropped her running shoes beside her car, she carefully climbed up onto the rocks and made her way towards Emma. "Emma, why didn't you answer your phone?"

"Why didn't you answer yours?" Emma countered and Regina groaned in annoyance despite knowing she should've expected that answer. "Regina?"

"I am so sorry," she said and she climbed over one last rock until she was on the same one as Emma was standing on. "I was a coward, Emma. I was so afraid to talk to you after the other night. I should've answered the first time you called. I should've talked to you. I should've begged you to call the wedding off. I—"

"I told him," Emma cut her off. "I told him I couldn't marry him."

"I know."

"You know?"

Regina nodded. "Your mother called me."

"Of course she did," Emma sighed. "She knows, you know."

"I know. She told me that too. She also told me that my mother was the one who raised the concern that she believed we were having an affair."

Emma shook her head and Regina stepped closer to her. "I thought we were careful when we were together," she said quietly and Regina smiled as she wrapped her arms around Emma's waist. "We were, weren't we?"

"Yes. Mostly."

"What are you doing here? I went to your house, but you weren't there."

"That's because I went to the church hoping to catch you there before you left."

"Of course you did."

"Emma," Regina said and she paused for a moment, waiting for Emma to turn to look at her. "I know we both made mistakes and I will do anything to make up for being such a coward—"

"We were both cowards, Regina."

Regina laughed and leaned her forehead against Emma's gently. "I know that things aren't exactly perfect between us right now, but I am in love with you and I want to be with you more than anything."

"You do?"

"Yes," she smiled and Emma finally wrapped her arms around her. "Is it too soon to ask you to be mine?"

"Maybe," Emma whispered. "But then again, I think I've always been yours."

"And I yours."

Emma leaned back, but she didn't step out of their embrace entirely. "I hurt him. A lot and it sucks," she frowned. "Have you told Daniel yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"Yes, but maybe not today."

"Okay."

"Emma?" Regina lifted a hand to cup her cheek when Emma looked away from her to look out over the water. "I know things are messy in both our lives right now, but I want this with you. I want to be with you more than anything."

"Me too," Emma replied with a small, shy smile. "I've wanted to be with you for a very long time now."

"Why didn't you ever tell me that before?"

Emma sighed heavily. "You were with Daniel. You married him. I was okay with that, you know, because we still found the time to steal a moment or two to be together and that was enough for me. I still had you even if you weren't truly mine. I figured that was better than only just being your friend."

The wind started to pick up and they both squealed when a wave crashed against the rock they were standing on and nearly drenched them. Emma pressed a small kiss to Regina's lips before leading the way back to the beach, not once letting go of her hand until they were both back on the ground.

"Emma!" Regina cried out when Emma picked her up and spun her around, both of them laughing as Emma lost her footing and they both fell into the sand. "Oh Emma, what am I going to do with you?"

"Kiss me?"

"I always want to kiss you."

"Love me?"

"I have always loved you even if I didn't realize it."

Emma chuckled and Regina lifted a hand as she shifted her body on top of Emma's, and she brushed aside a few strands of Emma's hair lightly.

"What do we do now?" Emma asked softly as she lightly ran her hands up and down Regina's back. "And is this my shirt?"

"It is," Regina smiled down at her and she leaned back at little to fully look into her eyes. "I am not sure what we do now, but we will have plenty of time to figure that out later."

"Will you kiss me now, Regina?"

"Of course."

Regina dipped her head down and kissed her deeply, feeling her heart flutter the moment their lips touched. Regina lost herself within Emma and the rest of the world fell away for a few precious moments before the sound of Ruby's voice calling out their names caused them to pull apart.

"Does anyone even bother answering their cell phones anymore?" Ruby laughed as she approached them on the beach. "Seriously, what's the point in having one if you never answer it?" Ruby chuckled and she watched with a raised eyebrow as Emma and Regina got up from the sand together. "Em, your mom took care of cancelling pretty much everything but the reception. We're just going to have a party instead, you know, if you feel up to it."

"What do you think?" Emma asked Regina. "You feel up for a party?"

"I suppose yes. We really shouldn't let all that food go to waste."

"We better not or Granny is going to be pissed," Ruby chuckled and she moved to stand between them and flung an arm around each of their shoulders. "And you two, I know you two are all loved up and everything, but—"

"We're not going to be all couple-y if that's what you're saying," Emma muttered under her breath. "We've got some things to work out."

"Oh I saw you two working something out and on a public beach of all places."

"We were just kissing!" Emma groaned and Regina couldn't help but laugh. "You are going to be a serious pain in the ass about me and Regina, aren't you?"

"Of course I am," Ruby laughed. "Come on, Granny is going to need some help taking the food over to the hall a little earlier than planned."

"I'll catch up," Emma said and Ruby just nodded and dropped her arms around from both of them. "We'll both catch up."

"In an hour or two?"

"Give us a few minutes, please?" Emma asked and Ruby backed away with her hands in the air and a smirk on her face. "Thank you."

"Are you feeling up for a party, Emma?" Regina asked once Ruby had made her way up to where she parked her car next to Emma's Bug. "Just because—"

"No, it's fine, Regina. I'm fine with having a party. We paid for the hall, the food, the alcohol, not to mention the DJ. We might as well enjoy it, right?"

"I am sure people would understand if you chose not to show up."

Emma chuckled quietly and shook her head. "What, are you trying to ask me without asking me to come home with you and skip out on the party?"

"Emma," Regina said firmly. "Today you were supposed to get married and you called the wedding off. You are going to see people there that were supposed to be at the church right about now and watching you marry him. Are you sure—"

"I was miserable this morning," Emma said quietly and she reached for both of Regina's hands. "I was miserable and I honestly had no idea what I was going to do or what I was even going to say to him if I got the nerve to tell him. I'm not even sure I would've gone to tell him if my mom didn't come up to talk to me. She knew something was going on with me and she asked me how long we've been having an affair. I didn't tell her much and I didn't have to since she already knew. My point is, Regina, today started out completely miserable and now? I mean it kills me inside that I hurt Neal, but I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. And now, now we can be together and I don't know, that makes me feel happy and that is how I should've felt on my wedding day, not miserable. Maybe that makes me a horrible person, but right now, all I feel is happy because I can be yours and you can be mine. No more secrets, no more lies. We can just be together."

"We still need to take some time before that happens, Emma."

"I know, I know. As far as anyone is concerned, all we are is friends, right?"

"Right," Regina nodded and she let go of Emma's hands. "No acting couple-y today. Now isn't the time for that."

"No, it's not," Emma sighed. "But one day, right?"

"I did kiss you on a public beach, didn't I?" Regina asked and Emma just laughed and shyly tucked her hair behind her ears. "It may take me some time to be comfortable being "out", especially to everyone in town, but like with us, that'll come in time, Emma."

"Not too much time, right?"

Regina chuckled softly and shook her head no. "Hopefully not. Now, let's head over to Granny's and help out with the food, okay?"

"Regina?"

"Hmm?"

"What am I supposed to tell everyone?" She asked. "Neal text me just as I got here and told me he told everyone that was already at the church that we mutually agreed to call the wedding off. People are going to need more than that."

"If they ask, you have every right to decline to answer them. It is a private matter and quite frankly none of their business," Regina replied and she looked back at the group of men fishing off the beach before leaning in to kiss her lightly. "It isn't going to be easy having to face everyone who expected to attend a wedding today, but I won't let anyone cause you any grief."

"Already becoming the protective girlfriend, are you?"

"I've always been a protective friend and that is exactly what I am going to be today," Regina corrected her and she couldn't help but smile at the way Emma had slipped in the girlfriend comment. "Perhaps tonight we can sit down and talk about everything."

"Just talk?"

"Just talk," Regina repeated. "We are wholly capable of spending time with one another alone without it leading to sex."

"Are we?" Emma chuckled and upon Regina's roll of her eyes, she stopped. "Can I walk you to your car, Regina?"

All Regina did in turn was slip her hand into Emma's and smiled. They walked along the beach slowly, hand in hand, not talking and not finding the need to in that very moment. After sharing one last kiss, Regina got into her car and watched as Emma made the trek back across the beach to her own car.

While the day hadn't turned out the way she had feared, a part of her still felt the guilt weighing her down. Her own marriage had fallen apart and not just because of her affair or her feelings for Emma, but for reasons of its own. She knew it wasn't just on her that Emma called the wedding off, but she still felt partially responsible for the grief and heartbreak that Neal was going through.

Still, she knew it was better that Emma hadn't gone through with the wedding at all, especially not with how their relationship had changed in just the past week alone. The only reason she hadn't asked Emma to call the wedding off was because she knew it would've only added to the guilt she felt and because it needed to be Emma's decision and not hers.

By the time she made it to the diner, Emma was already loading up trays of food into the back seat of her car under Granny's watchful eye. It took a little while to load up the food since Mary Margaret had mistakenly fired the people they'd hired to not only transport the food to the hall, but to serve it as well.

The party started just after two that afternoon and most of the guests who had been invited to the wedding showed up after changing out of their formal wear into something more casual. Regina found herself standing at Emma's side as most of the guests came up to her to express their condolences that she and Neal had decided not to go through with the wedding at the last minute.

It was almost three hours after they arrived at the hall that Regina slipped out to get some air. She stood at the side of the hall and leaned against the brick wall, sipping from her glass of wine she'd brought outside with her.

"So," Kathryn said as she approached her. "You and Emma?"

"Pardon?"

"I had a delightful conversation with your mother earlier. I had no idea that you and Emma were…seeing each other."

"Having an affair, Kathryn," Regina sighed. "It's okay to use that word. It is exactly what it was."

"But now its not," Kathryn smiled and she leaned towards her for a loose, one-armed hug and placed a kiss on her cheek. "So," she chuckled as she stepped back and shook her head. "How long have you two been seeing each other?"

"Do you really want to know?" Regina asked and Kathryn just nodded. Regina had to down the rest of her wine before she cleared her throat. "Eleven years."

"What?"

"Give or take."

Kathryn looked floored at the revelation. "Eleven years, Regina?"

"Yes."

"And yet you still married Daniel?"

"It's a long, complicated story, Kat."

"I can see that," she replied and she whistled lowly. "Eleven years. How did you two manage to…fuck for eleven years and I didn't even know?"

"Too many secrets and too many lies," Regina sighed and she looked over as the side door to the hall banged open and Emma stepped outside. "There will be no more of that from here on out."

"What are you going to tell Daniel? _When_ are you going to tell him?"

"The truth and I'll tell him soon enough. I just hope nobody lets it slip before I get the chance to speak with him. I owe him that much."

"Hey," Emma smiled at both of them and she ever so casually moved to stand close to Regina as she leaned against the wall. "What are you two doing out here? My dad just made everyone take a round of shots with him and I'm pretty sure Granny is about to start dancing on the tables."

"That'll be a sight to see," Regina chuckled. "I needed to get some air and Kathryn here felt the need to ask me about us."

"Oh? And just what have you been telling her?"

"She's only just been telling me _all_ the steamy details of your sex life," Kathryn giggled and she hiccupped as Emma turned to Regina with wide eyes.

"You're telling her about our sex life?" Emma asked, clearly not able to understand that Kathryn had been joking. "Please tell me you didn't tell her how many toys we have because—"

"Toys?" Kathryn gasped. "As in more than one?"

"Oh my god," Emma groaned and she turned to bury her face into Regina's shoulder. "I hate you, Kat."

"Love you too, Emma," Kathryn chuckled and she reached for Regina's empty wine glass and motioned that she was heading back inside. "Don't stay away too long, ladies. Someone is bound to come looking for one of you sooner or later."

"We'll be right in," Regina smiled at her and waited until Kathryn had gone back inside before she eased Emma away from her shoulder. She wasted no time in stealing a kiss, trying and failing to keep it chaste just a few seconds in.

"Want to slip away for a little while and steal a moment together?"

"Emma—"

"Ten minutes?" Emma whispered against her lips. "Just like we used to?"

Regina was sure it was the wine that impaired her senses and her body was betraying her too. After the other night, it being so very different than any time before, she had been craving more, craving Emma in ways she never had before. While she had always longed for those stolen moments with Emma over the years, it had definitely changed in the course of a week and that longing was heightened about a thousand times more.

Despite knowing they had a long ways to go before they could truly be together, Regina slipped her hand into Emma's and after scanning their surroundings, she pulled her through the packed parking lot and over to where she parked her car. They had barely gotten into the back seat before Emma's hand was slipping down the front of her pants and inside her thong, her fingers stroking over her cunt with ease.

It was quick, it was raw, it was everything they used to do, but even then it still felt different in every little way. After less than ten minutes of being in the back seat of her car, the windows were fogged and Regina was coming down from a quick and intense orgasm that left her whole body thrumming with delicious pleasure. They kissed for what felt like hours afterwards and despite Regina not reciprocating, Emma murmured into her ear in the moments before they exited the car that she could return the favour later that night.

It was also the first time Regina didn't feel the guilt weighing down on her when they finally returned to the hall together. Regina took her seat at the table she'd been at before with Kathryn and a few others, not once taking her eyes off of Emma as she watched her walk over to the bar to get herself another drink.

It didn't take her long to realize that she definitely needed to tell Daniel the truth before the night was over. She couldn't wait any longer and not just because she was worried he'd find out from someone else as the drinks continued to flow heavily within the crowd of just over a hundred people, but because she owed him that much to tell him the truth of her unfaithfulness.

She found her moment about an hour after she and Emma had stolen a moment in the back seat of her car. As hard as her conversation with Daniel was going to be, it had to be done. She got herself another glass of wine and Daniel a beer before they headed to a quiet spot inside the hall and away from the party.

Daniel was quiet the whole time she confessed her affair with Emma and how she had fallen in love with her, not just as her lover, but as her best friend as well. It was the hardest conversation she'd ever had in her life and seeing the hurt show so very clearly in Daniel's eyes broke her heart to pieces. He wasn't as understanding as Neal had been and she hadn't expected him to be, but he did tell her before he left that all he wanted for her was to be happy and if Emma happened to be the source of his happiness, he would try to support the choices she had made that had led them all to where they were in that moment. He didn't say much else before he left, but he did promise her he'd pack the rest of his things the next day and be gone from the house for good.

Long after Daniel had left, Emma found her still sitting in the stairwell and staring into her empty wine glass she held between her hands. Emma sat down next to her and exhaled sharply, yet she didn't say a word as she draped an arm around Regina's shoulders and pulled her into her as Regina's tears finally began to fall.

"Do you ever think about what would've happened if we just figured this whole thing out when it started?" Regina asked Emma quietly. "Do you ever think about how different our lives might have been?"

"All the time," Emma replied. "But that doesn't change anything, Regina. We can't turn back the clock and do everything over again."

"No, I suppose we can't."

"You want to get out of here?"

"And go where?"

"Anywhere but here."

[X]

A week after Emma called off the wedding and they were spending their final day at the Mills' family cabin they'd driven out to that previous Sunday, she knew that when they returned to Storybrooke later that afternoon that everything was going to be so very different in both of their lives.

They had spent many hours talking and many more making love, making up for lost time in a sense. Despite Regina's recent divorce and Emma's breakup with Neal, they both agreed on one thing and that was the fact that they were not going to let anything or anyone stop them from being together. One emotional conversation led to another before they ended up in bed together, working through their many emotions in one of the best ways they knew how.

Emma knew when they returned to Storybrooke that not only were their lives going to change, their relationship was already well on that path. Already it felt like a brand new relationship and an old one all at the same time, but Emma was happy and there was no doubt in her mind that Regina was as well.

Like most mornings since they drove up to the cabin, they were curled up on the oversized chair out on the back deck and wrapped up in a big flannel blanket, neither without a stitch on underneath. They watched the sun rise together with Emma sitting behind Regina and her arms wrapped firmly around her. Regina held the blanket shut with one hand and in the other that peeked out she held a cup of coffee they both shared.

"What time are we leaving?" Emma asked and she rest her chin on Regina's bare shoulder and rubbed her hands over her abdomen slowly. "Babe?"

"This afternoon," Regina replied. "I would like to be on the road no later than three. There is plenty to do before then."

"Like?"

"You, for example," Regina chuckled lowly and suggestively and Emma smirked before placing a lingering kiss to the warm skin of her neck. "We also need to change the sheets, clean the kitchen and make sure everything is locked up."

"Have I told you how much I love it when you get all domestic?"

"No, but you've certainly showed me."

"How about we go back inside and I'll show you again?" Emma murmured as she trailed her lips along Regina's neck and shoulder. Regina moaned when Emma slipped a hand between her thighs, but she clamped her legs shut, trapping Emma's hand and making it impossible for her to move her fingers. "You know, you are the queen of mixed signals, babe."

"Am I now, darling?"

"Yep," Emma chuckled and she moved her free hand to Regina's breasts and teased her fingers over one nipple and then the other.

"Emma?"

"Hmm?"

"Have you given any thought to what I asked you last night?"

"Yeah," Emma nodded before planting another kiss to her neck. "You don't think that people are going to talk if I move in with you?"

"Let them talk."

"You're not worried?"

"No. Are you?"

"A little bit," Emma admitted. "I want to, Regina, I do."

"But?"

Emma sighed and wrapped her arms around her middle and held her close. If the last week they'd spent together at the cabin was any indication of what their lives would be like if they lived together, Emma knew it would be nothing short of amazing. Yet, she knew there would be petty little arguments and nights she'd be too stubborn to apologize for being an idiot and end up sleeping on the couch or in one of the guest bedrooms. No relationship was perfect, not even hers and Regina's would meet that unrealistic ideal.

There were still things they both had to deal with before they could make it all a reality. Emma and Neal had to sell the house and before they'd left to spend the week up at the cabin, she promised him they'd deal with that when she got back home. Regina and Daniel's divorce would take about a month before it was finalized and there were matters that had to be dealt with on that end of things, financial matters that Emma truly didn't want to think about. There was also the matter of essentially coming out to the rest of their family and friends as a couple and it wouldn't be long before everyone in town would find out either.

"But," Emma said after a few long heavy moments of silence had passed between them. "I think I need a few weeks before that happens."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

Regina nodded. "Take as long as you need," she whispered as she turned in Emma's arms. "But not too long."

"The way I see it, I'll probably be spending all my time with you anyway."

"Will you now?"

"Yeah," Emma smiled and she nuzzled her nose against Regina's before planting a soft kiss to her lips. "We don't have to sneak around anymore."

"No, we don't."

"Did you ever think we'd end up here?" Emma asked and Regina looked at her curiously. "Not here," she said, referring to the Mills' family cabin. "But where we are now together."

"When I realized how I truly felt about you, I had hoped that one day we would get here, yes. I wasn't sure how that was going to happen or when, but I had hoped that we would."

"Where do you see us going from here?"

Regina just smiled and delivered a sweet kiss to her lips. "The future is full of endless possibilities Emma, _our_ future is ours for the taking. Anything is possible."

"Anything," Emma echoed and she pulled an arm free from the blanket and took the nearly empty cup of coffee from Regina's hand and placed it on the table next to the chair. "Would you ever want to get married again?"

"Are you asking?"

"Not right now, no," Emma said quietly and she felt her cheeks flush at the incredulous look that Regina gave her at her answer. "But maybe one day?"

"Ask me when that one day comes and we'll see."

"Because the future is full of endless possibilities, isn't it?"

Regina just laughed and nodded her head. "Yes it is, Emma. I love you."

"I love you, too."

 **The End**


End file.
